Beyoncé's halftime show not the reason for Super Bowl power outage
Singer Beyonce performs during the Pepsi Super Bowl XLVII Halftime Show at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. (Feb. 3, 2013) Credit: Getty
Don't blame it on B!
During the wrap-up news conference for Super Bowl XLVII Monday, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said there was "no indication" that Beyoncé's high-wattage halftime spectacular led to the power outage. "I know that's been out there," he said of speculation that the show caused the surge. "That is not the case on anything we have at this point."
In fact, CEO and senior vice president Doug Thornton of SMG -- the company that manages the Superdome -- noted that the facility saw a "drop in the amperage used" during the halftime production because the house lights were turned off.
Entergy, the local power supply company, and SMG issued a joint statement Sunday night saying that "a piece of equipment that is designed to monitor electrical load sensed an abnormality in the system" early in the third quarter. "Once the issue was detected, the sensing equipment operated as designed and opened a breaker, causing power to be partially cut to the Superdome in order to isolate the issue. Backup generators kicked in immediately as designed."
Goodell said there was one minor injury on an escalator, and that the NFL is investigating the blackout's cause.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie was in Goodell's suite and they discussed how to avoid a similar situation next year. "We've already had that conversation," Goodell said. "He's hard at work on that already."
This was the 10th New Orleans Super Bowl -- seventh at the Superdome. Goodell suggested there will be more.
"We know they have an interest in future Super Bowls, and we look forward to evaluating it," he said, before adding about the blackout: "I do not think this will have any impact on what I think will be remembered as one of the great Super Bowl weeks."
