2013 New Orleans Super Bowl Host Committee Announces Million Dollar Partnership

Online, November 17, 2010 (Newswire.com) - Entergy Employees join Super Bowl Host Committee, NORD and Rebuilding Together to kickoff Super Bowl countdown by rebuilding Norwood Thompson Playground in Gert Town.

The New Orleans Super Bowl Host Committee today announced Entergy as the first official partner for Super Bowl XLVII. Super Bowl Host Committee Executive Director Jay Cicero and Rod West, Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer for Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR), announced that Entergy has signed a $1 million agreement to serve as the Community Relations and Emerging Business partner for Super Bowl XLVII.

"Entergy is pleased to partner with the New Orleans Super Bowl Host Committee in bringing the Super Bowl back to New Orleans," West said. "As the only Fortune 500 Company headquartered in New Orleans, we understand the significance of Entergy taking a leading role in helping the Super Bowl Host Committee and the City of New Orleans put on a world class event."

The focus of the NFL Super Bowl Host Committee Community Relations activities will be to help rebuild and expand youth recreational opportunities in the New Orleans region. The Emerging Business Program will ensure that small and emerging local businesses are able to take full advantage of Super Bowl-related business opportunities.

"These efforts are a natural extension of Entergy's ongoing commitment to the recovery of our economy and to the children of our community," West said. "Today's volunteer effort kicks off a countdown to Super Bowl during which we will rebuild playgrounds and youth recreational sites in New Orleans."

The partnership was announced during the rebuilding of NORD's Norwood Thompson Playground. The all-day affair was led by Entergy employees together with Rebuilding Together, NORD, the New Orleans Saints, the Greater New Orleans Sports Foundation and middle school students from nearby Lafayette Academy. The activities attracted neighbors from the Gert Town community who came out to admire the new playground equipment, seating areas, trash receptacles, landscaping, and mural work designed by the YA/YAs (Young Aspirations/Young Artists). The YA/YAs assisted in the design of the New Orleans Host Committee's successful bid for Super Bowl XLVII.

The Playground build is the first of many Super Bowl Host Committee projects that will focus on youth recreational facilities in the New Orleans region. West, a New Orleans native, was a presenter of the Super Bowl bid, and also serves as the Chair of the Community Affairs Committee.

The Entergy Emerging Business Program provides minority and women business owners with exposure, education, and opportunities to bid on business awarded by the NFL, its partners, sponsors, vendors and the Host Committee. The New Orleans program, first implemented by the Sports Foundation for the 1997 Super Bowl, has expanded exponentially over the years and will include a comprehensive Internet portal serving as an online bridge between local vendors and the business of Super Bowl.

"The Emerging Business Program for Super Bowl has generated many past success stories for New Orleans' woman- and minority -owned businesses," Cicero said. "While some local businesses will earn direct business in 2013 as a result of the program, relationships that often carry over to Super Bowls hosted in other cities, every participant will gain invaluable insight on the process of procuring business with any major sporting event. In New Orleans, a favorite destination, we have no shortage of those opportunities. Entergy will play an invaluable role in helping deliver this program to the New Orleans business community."

The announcement of the Entergy partnership comes at a time when the Super Bowl Host Committee is already actively working on the event that comes to town in less than 30 months. The not-for-profit Host Committee, under the leadership of the Greater New Orleans Sports Foundation and New Orleans Saints, has James Carville and Mary Matalin as co-chairs. To learn more about the Community Affairs or Entergy Emerging Business Programs, or the New Orleans Super Bowl Host Committee's other efforts, please visit www.NOLASuperBowl.com

Media Contacts:

Sam Joffray, Associate Executive Director, New Orleans Super Bowl Host Committee
(504) 525-5678, [email protected]
Alex Schott, Media Relations, Entergy
(504) 576-4238, [email protected]