The Sugar Bowl was postponed to Thursday, Jan. 2 at 4 p.m. ET, following a deadly attack on Bourbon Street in New Orleans early Wednesday morning.
Sugar Bowl chief executive Jeff Hundley said he consulted with ESPN and the College Football Playoff, and all parties agreed to postpone the event by 24 hours. But on Wednesday evening, the Sugar Bowl announced it would kick off slightly earlier in the day, at 4 p.m. ET Thursday.
The New Year’s Six matchup was originally planned to kick off at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans at 8:45 p.m. ET on Wednesday night. The matchup between Notre Dame and Georgia is serving as one of the quarterfinals in the expanded 12-team College Football Playoff format.
In a press release, Sugar Bowl officials said that law enforcement resources normally available for the event were preoccupied with the fallout of the attack and that the postponement would help “maintain the typical standards of a major event in the Caesars Superdome.”
“We have full faith and confidence in the governor and the mayor and all the federal, state, and local first responders that they’ve applied to this horrific event,” Hundley said in a statement Wednesday. Any time we have an event like the Sugar Bowl, public safety is paramount, and all parties involved agree that could only be achieved with a postponement. Now we will move ahead to take care of the details to make the Sugar Bowl the first-class, fun, and safe event that it has been for over 90 years.”
A long list of officials were involved in the decision, including the Sugar Bowl, local, state, and federal authorities, as well as the CFP, the SEC, Georgia, Notre Dame, and the Caesars Superdome. CFP executive director Rich Clark specifically thanked ESPN for its “flexibility” in changing the game window.
ESPN will air the game on Thursday, as well as its previously scheduled megacast, the network announced. Instead of the previously scheduled game broadcast on Wednesday night, the network would air an edition of SportsCenter.
“The decision to postpone tonight’s Sugar Bowl was made in the best interest of public safety,” SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey said in a statement. “Lives were tragically lost last night and we are appreciative that public officials and law enforcement agencies continue to work with great diligence to ensure the safety of the New Orleans community.”
At around 3:15 a.m. local time, a truck rammed through a crowd on Bourbon Street in New Orleans’ French Quarter, a popular destination for New Year’s Eve celebrations, injuring at least 25 and killing at least 10, according to local officials. The deadly incident is being investigated as a terrorist attack by the FBI, which said in a statement that the flag of the terrorist group ISIS was found in the white Ford pickup truck. The perpetrator was identified as 42-year-old Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a U.S. citizen from Texas.
The FBI also said that it found explosive devices in the truck Jabbar was driving—as well as other devices planted throughout the French Quarter. As of Wednesday afternoon, special agent bomb technicians were working to ensure that the devices had been disabled.
Both Georgia and Notre Dame football teams sheltered in place in their hotels Wednesday, according to multiple reports. The entirety of the ESPN crew on the ground in New Orleans working to broadcast the Sugar Bowl was safe and accounted for, Front Office Sports confirmed.
The 2025 Super Bowl is scheduled to take place at the Superdome in February. The NFL released a statement Wednesday saying that plans for the event had not changed, as the league has been working with local officials and the host committee for two years on “comprehensive security plans.”
“We are confident attendees will have a safe and enjoyable Super Bowl experience,” they said.
