UPDATED THROUGHOUT Today’s Sugar Bowl college football match-up between the Georgia Bulldogs and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish has been postponed for 24 hours until Thursday night, Sugar Bowl CEO Jeff Hundley has just announced.
The game had been planned for tonight at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, only hours after the deadly carnage visited upon that city earlier this morning.
Hundley, speaking at a press conference in New Orleans and noting that “public safety is paramount,” said Sugar Bowl officials had consulted with ESPN (which will televise the game), as well as with “the college football playoff, the southeastern conference, with the University of Georgia, with Notre Dame.”
He continued, “All parties agree that it’s in the best interests of everybody and public safety that we postpone the game for 24 hours.” Hundley pledged to “set up a safe and efficient and fun environment for tomorrow night.” Details will be forthcoming.
Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry said at the conference that he will attend tomorrow night’s game.
Hundley thanked the various officials from stage, local and federal agencies also taking part in the press conference, saying, “We live in a fun and games world with what we do but we certainly recognize the importance of this and we’re going to support it 100 percent.”
Earlier today, Hundley released a statement saying, “The Sugar Bowl Committee is devastated by the terrible events from early this morning. Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families. We are in ongoing discussions with authorities on the local, state, and federal levels and will communicate further details as they become available.”
Earlier today, the general assumption was that the game would go on as planned tonight. On CNN this morning, Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) said he was “extremely confident” that the game would go on tonight. “The standard operating procedure for a big game like the Sugar Bowl, for a Saints game, for the Super Bowl is to go through the building, make sure there’s nothing there that’s wrong, and then to lock it down. The Sugar Bowl, the Superdome has been locked down. There is going to be no problem there.”
New Orleans Police Department Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick also confirmed this morning that the game was, at that point, expected to be played as scheduled at 8:45 p.m. ET.
The winner of the game will advance to the College Football Playoff semifinal.
“We are horrified and saddened by the senseless act of violence that occurred in the early hours of New Year’s Day in New Orleans,” said a statement released by the University of Georgia. “University personnel are working to determine if any UGA students, faculty, staff, alumni or fans were among the victims.”
Later, the Georgia athletic department issued a lengthier statement, saying, “We are deeply saddened by the senseless violence that occurred in New Orleans. All team personnel and members of the official team travel party have been accounted for. Currently, we are in contact with local law enforcement as well as representatives from the Sugar Bowl and College Football Playoff and are continuing to gather more information. Our prayers are with all those who traveled here for the Sugar Bowl and entire New Orleans community.”
University of Georgia president Jere W. Morehead did confirm that one Georgia student, in town to watch the game, was critically injured and is currently receiving medical treatment.
Notre Dame officials also said they are “working with law enforcement and others to determine the full scope and impact of the tragedy.” No one associated with the school’s team has been reported injured.
At least 10 people were killed in the gruesome 3:15 a.m. attack on New Year’s revelers in New Orleans’ French Quarter when a man, who is being investigated as a potential terrorist, drove his vehicle into a crowd. In addition to the immediate fatalities, at least 35 people were injured, some critically.
The driver of the vehicle was shot and killed by police after he began firing on officers from his truck.