If you thought the Greater New Orleans Sports Foundation’s annual Premier Season Ticket Raffle was too good to be true in the past, just wait until you see what's included in this year’s giveaway.
The winner of this year’s buffet of season tickets also will win two tickets to Super Bowl LIX, which is set for the Caesars Superdome on Feb. 9.
“We’re calling it the Super Bowl of Super Bowl raffles,” said Jay Cicero, president and CEO of the Greater New Orleans Sports Foundation.
The annual season-ticket raffle is one of the primary fundraisers for the Sports Foundation, the organization that brings major sporting events such as the Super Bowl, Final Four and WrestleMania to New Orleans.
“The funds from this raffle help offset the operational costs of hosting major events like the Super Bowl,” Cicero said. “The administrative costs associated with those events is high and this raffle certainly helps offset some of those costs.”
The drawing for this year’s raffle will be held Aug. 25 at noon. Tickets are $100 and can be purchased on the Greater New Orleans Sports Foundation’s website at www.gnosports.com/win.
Just like last year, one lucky winner will receive two season tickets to home games for each of the following: Saints, Pelicans, LSU football, LSU men’s basketball, LSU women’s basketball, LSU baseball, LSU gymnastics, Tulane football, Tulane baseball, Tulane basketball, Tulane women’s basketball, UNO basketball, UNO baseball, UNO women’s basketball, NOLA Gold rugby and four VIP passes to the Zurich Classic. The winner also gets a pair of tickets to the New Orleans Bowl and Sugar Bowl.
But this year’s prize also includes two tickets to the Super Bowl, which is why last year’s winner Earl Williams is making sure to enter the raffle again.
“It’s a dream of mine to go to the Super Bowl," Williams said. "So to be able to go do that would be unbelievable."
Williams, who lives in Covington, is still riding the high of getting to attend so many sporting events over the past year. He still remembers checking the Greater New Orleans Sports Foundation website last year and finding out he had won.
“I saw my name and said, ‘Holy crap, I won,’ ” Williams recalls. “I had to go sit down.”
It was pretty much all the sitting down he got a chance to do over the past 12 months. He spent much of his time making trips to the Superdome and the Smoothie King Center and Baton Rouge and Uptown New Orleans and Avondale (home of the Zurich Class).
“The opportunity it gives you to see so much is unbelievable,” he said.
The foundation typically sells just 1,500 tickets, but since this year’s raffle also includes the Super Bowl tickets, the organization increased the number to 2,500.
“Having the Super Bowl tickets in it this year has already made a huge difference,” Cicero said. “We’ve already sold more tickets this year than all of last year. We’re hoping to sell all 2,500.”
Billy O’Regan, who won the raffle two years ago, called it “by far the best thing I’ve ever won.”
The two Super Bowl tickets make it even more enticing this time.
“If you’re a sports fan, I’d recommend you try to win it,” Williams said. “I was in shock when I won it because I’m one of these people who never wins anything. I’m definitely going to try to win it again.”
Visit https://www.gnosports.com/win to purchase a raffle ticket.