Gayle Benson pledges $150 million for a $420 million Smoothie King Center renovation, but the Pelicans’ arena plan still has a $195 million hole

The plan to rebuild the Smoothie King Center and keep the Pelicans in New Orleans now has a price and a gap. The renovation is estimated at $420 million, and Gayle Benson and Louisiana officials are trying to close a funding gap of about $200 million, Stephanie Riegel reported Monday, citing three people familiar with the negotiations.

Benson has pledged $150 million of her own money, team spokesman Greg Bensel said, calling it a “personal commitment to modernizing a state-owned asset while securing the Pelicans’ long-term future in New Orleans.” Gov. Jeff Landry has said he would support $75 million from the state construction budget, spread over two fiscal periods, if lawmakers agree. That leaves about $195 million for the Louisiana Stadium and Exposition District, the state agency that owns the arena and the Superdome, and it has not worked out how to pay it.

Who would pay for what

Source	Amount	Share of $420M	Status
Gayle Benson (personal)	$150 million	36%	Pledged, per the team
State construction budget	$75 million	18%	Landry supports it; needs the Legislature, over two budget years
Stadium district (LSED)	About $195 million	46%	Unfunded; tax options under study
Total	$420 million	100%	No agreement yet

The split looks a lot like the last big project on the same campus. The $500 million-plus Superdome renovation, finished in late 2024, was paid roughly 65% by the public and 35% by the Saints. Benson’s pledge would cover about 36% here. The difference is where the public money comes from. The district is a quasi-public agency that can issue bonds, but it is already carrying about $520 million in debt from the Superdome work and other projects. People involved in the talks said it is studying a special taxing district or dedicating part of an existing tax. Either would need approval in the 2027 legislative session.

“The LSED is working to reach an agreement on the renovations for the Smoothie King Center that makes financial sense for all parties involved,” board chair Robert Vosbein said. He gave no timeline.

The proposed Smoothie King Center overhaul includes 2,155 new lower-bowl seats, upgraded clubs, a rooftop terrace and a reimagined Champions Square.

The big questions: Who covers the remaining $195M, and what does it mean for the Pelicans’ next lease? #Pelicans #Pels

— The Kneaux (@beinthekneaux) November 9, 2026

What the money would buy

It would be the biggest overhaul since the arena opened in 1999. The plan, drawn up for the district by Gensler and Eskew Dumez Ripple, adds 2,155 lower-level seats while cutting some upper-level seating, with new concourses, clubs, suites and a rooftop terrace. Outside, it redesigns the campus: two parking lots along Le Rouge Street, Champions Square, the old New Orleans Centre and the Macy’s parking garage.

Updated renderings from the team added one new piece: a Pelicans training facility on the site of the closed Macy’s, surrounded by bars and restaurants and next to a stage. Bensel said the training facility would move there “if we reach an agreement with the state,” as the first step toward “a billion-dollar sports, entertainment and civic district.”

Gayle Benson, after a Pelicans long-term lease is signed (after an agreement to upgrade the Smoothie King Center), plans to spend nearly $1 billion on an entertainment district. It includes an enhanced Champions Square, a new @PelicansNBA training facility (where the Macy’s is…

— Kaare Johnson (@KaareJohnson) November 10, 2026

That district fits a pattern. Benson already owns several office towers on Poydras Street near the arena and last month bought the Windsor Court hotel. Owning the real estate around a state-owned arena is how an owner who doesn’t get the building’s revenue can still profit from the crowds it draws.

The case against, in numbers

The state’s skepticism comes down to one line in the latest audit. In 2025, the Smoothie King Center had an operating loss of $11.5 million. The Superdome made a $13.5 million profit.

2025 result	Smoothie King Center	Caesars Superdome
Operating result	Loss of $11.5 million	Profit of $13.5 million
Main tenant	Pelicans (lease ends June 30, 2029)	Saints (lease through 2035, options to 2055)
Last major work	Minor upgrades since 1999	$500 million-plus renovation, done late 2024

“The state doesn’t make a lot of money at the Smoothie King Center by the Pelicans because people don’t support it,” said Shane Guidry, a close Landry adviser involved in the talks. “They don’t come into town early to spend the night and stay the weekend like they do for football, so we have to make sure the facility is not going to lose money.” Guidry still expects the state to support some kind of deal.

Bensel answered that the district’s books are the wrong measure. “The franchise supports jobs, generates tax revenue, brings customers to local businesses, and creates opportunities for private investment,” he said, and those benefits “must be considered alongside the full public costs.”

The Super Bowl argument

The deadline isn’t just the 2029 lease. New Orleans is bidding for Super Bowl LXV in 2031, and the NFL is expected to name the host early next year. The team and some district officials want to show the league the arena and district can be finished before then. The NFL has not made the arena a condition, people familiar with the talks said, but has said it would make the city more competitive.

Not everyone is convinced. “I don’t understand what a basketball arena has to do with a football game,” said Senate President Cameron Henry, who will help decide any funding plan. “You can only use the ‘we need it for the Super Bowl’ so many times.” The same argument helped win state and city support this year for the 1,000-room Omni hotel near the convention center. That deal is done, and the arena talks have picked up since.

Why it matters for the Pelicans

At 17,188 seats, the arena is one of the smallest in the league. More lower-bowl seats and premium space are the direct fix. A new lease is expected to run 10 years with extension options, like the Saints’ deal. But there’s no lease without a renovation plan, and no renovation without the public money. To finish by 2030, construction would likely have to start by the summer of 2028, so the 2027 session is effectively the deadline. Like Portland’s Moda Center talks, it is a lease clock with public money attached, and the bids behind Miami landing the 2028 All-Star Weekend show what a modern arena can bring in.