Super Bowl XLIV

On February 7, 2010, the New Orleans Saints defeated the Indianapolis Colts 31–17 in Super Bowl XLIV, played at what was then Sun Life Stadium (now Hard Rock Stadium) in Miami Gardens, Florida. The Saints, representing the NFC as underdogs, captured their first NFL championship and delivered the first major professional sports title ever won by a team based in New Orleans. The Colts, champions of the AFC, entered the game with a 14–2 regular-season record, while the Saints posted a 13–3 mark.

Both teams were number-one seeds in their conferences, a feat not seen since Super Bowl XXVIII sixteen years earlier, and each had started the season with a 13-game winning streak. This was the Saints’ first Super Bowl appearance; the Colts made their fourth, and their first since Super Bowl XLI. The Colts reached the game by beating the Baltimore Ravens and New York Jets, while the Saints defeated the previous year’s Super Bowl runner-up, the Arizona Cardinals, and then the Minnesota Vikings in the NFC Championship. As of the 2025 NFL season, neither team has returned to the Super Bowl.

At halftime, the Saints trailed 10–6. The game’s turning point came when Thomas Morstead opened the second half with a surprise onside kick, which the Saints recovered. They soon took their first lead on a 16-yard touchdown reception by Pierre Thomas. The Colts answered with a 4-yard touchdown run by Joseph Addai, regaining a 17–13 advantage.

The Saints then scored 18 unanswered points, capped by Tracy Porter’s 74-yard interception return for a touchdown. Saints quarterback Drew Brees completed 32 of 39 passes for 288 yards and two touchdowns, earning Super Bowl MVP honors; his 32 completions tied a Super Bowl record set by Tom Brady in Super Bowl XXXVIII. The victory provided a major morale boost for New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina’s devastation in 2005. However, the game later became controversial due to the New Orleans Saints bounty scandal, revealed by the NFL in 2012, which found that the team operated a slush fund from 2009 to 2011 to pay bounties for injuring opponents.

The CBS broadcast drew an average U.S. audience of 106.5 million viewers, making it the most-watched Super Bowl at the time. Carrie Underwood, winner of American Idol season 4, performed the National Anthem, and the halftime show featured the British rock band The Who. Super Bowl XLIV was the last to use a uniquely designed logo; starting with Super Bowl XLV, the logo permanently featured the Vince Lombardi Trophy and Roman numerals (except for Super Bowl 50, which used Arabic numerals).

The game was originally awarded to a proposed West Side Stadium in Manhattan, New York City, during an NFL owners’ meeting on March 23, 2005. The stadium, intended as the new home of the New York Jets and a centerpiece of New York’s bid for the 2012 Summer Olympics, was approved on a conditional basis pending funding and construction. The NFL waived its rule against a stadium hosting a Super Bowl in its first year. However, local opposition and controversy over public financing—the project’s cost had ballooned to nearly $2 billion—led New York State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver to vow to veto funding, and Cablevision, then-owner of Madison Square Garden, lobbied against it.

On June 6, 2005, state officials declined to approve $400 million in public funds. That same day, the International Olympic Committee released evaluations calling the new stadium “essential” to New York’s Olympic bid. On July 6, New York finished fourth in the IOC balloting, losing the Olympics. Without funding or the Olympics, the stadium plans were canceled.

In August 2005, the NFL reopened bidding for Super Bowl XLIV, inviting the three cities that had lost to Tampa for Super Bowl XLIII—Atlanta (Georgia Dome), Houston (Reliant Stadium), and Miami (Dolphins Stadium)—to resubmit proposals. Atlanta’s bid, led by Falcons owner Arthur Blank, included $150 million in Georgia Dome renovations and half the stadium’s suites for the league, but concerns remained about parking and the ice storm that had affected Super Bowl XXXIV.

Houston’s bid, led by Texans owner Bob McNair, featured the newest stadium, but some owners were reportedly unhappy with McNair’s role as chairman.