Mercedes-Benz Superdome

The Mercedes-Benz Superdome, previously known as the Louisiana Superdome and colloquially known as the Superdome, is a sports and exhibition arena located in the Central Business District of New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. Plans were drawn up in 1967 by the New Orleans modernist architectural firm of Curtis and Davis. It is home to the NFL's New Orleans Saints, the NCAA's Division I-A Tulane Green Wave football team (the largest football stadium in Conference USA), the State Farm Bayou Classic, the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl, the Allstate Sugar Bowl and, every fourth year, the BCS National Championship game. It is one of the few facilities in the US which can host major sporting events, such as the Super Bowl and the Final Four; as such, given New Orleans' popularity as a tourist destination, whenever it bids to host such an event it routinely makes the "short list" of candidates being considered. It is the largest fixed domed structure in the world. Its steel frame covers a 13-acre expanse. Its 273-foot dome is made of a Lamella multi-ringed frame and has a diameter of 680 feet. In 2005, it came to international attention when it was damaged by Hurricane Katrina and housed thousands of people seeking shelter from the storm.On October 3, 2011, it was announced that Mercedes-Benz purchased naming rights to the stadium. The new name took effect on October 23, 2011. It is the third stadium that has naming rights from Mercedes-Benz (and first in the United States), after the Mercedes-Benz Arena in Stuttgart, Germany and the Mercedes-Benz Arena in Shanghai, China.