Updated January 01, 2025 at 18:38 PM ET
The Sugar Bowl that was slated to take place in New Orleans Wednesday night has been postponed after a deadly attack during New Year's celebrations, according to local officials.
The new kickoff time is 3:00 p.m. CT on Thursday, according to the Sugar Bowl as of Wednesday evening.
"With law enforcement assets that would typically be allocated to an event of this stature currently engaged in active investigations related to the incident, the postponement will allow for additional security resources to be put in place in order to maintain the typical standards of a major event in the Caesars Superdome," the Sugar Bowl said in a statement.
Jeff Hundley, CEO of the Sugar Bowl, also said "public safety is paramount, and all parties involved agree that could only be achieved with a postponement," in a statement.
"Now we will move ahead to take care of the details to make the Sugar Bowl the first-class, fun, and safe event that it has been for over 90 years," Hundley said.
Before the postponement, the game between the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the Georgia Bulldogs was originally set to go on at Caesars Superdome amid heightened security measures and an "increased level of alertness," New Orleans City Council President Helena Moreno said on WWL-TV earlier on Wednesday.
As of Wednesday night, the FBI says that 15 have been killed and dozens more were injured after a driver in a pickup truck, who has been identified by the FBI as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, plowed into a crowd on Bourbon Street early Wednesday morning during New Year's celebrations, according to officials. The FBI says that it is investigating the attack as "an act of terrorism" and that the suspect is dead.
Officials from both colleges have expressed concerns and prayers for those impacted by the attack.
The University of Georgia will "do everything in its power to support those in our community who have been impacted by this unspeakable event," the college's president Jere W. Morehead said in a statement. The university is also supporting one of their students who was critically injured in the attack, according to Morehead.
Rev. Robert A. Dowd, president of the University of Notre Dame, said in a statement on Wednesday that "we are in solidarity with all those impacted by this tragedy."
The Sugar Bowl has been played in New Orleans every year since 1935, making it one of the oldest college football bowl games. Though it's most often been played on New Year's Day, this would be the 16th edition of the game to fall on Jan. 2. The Superdome, which also is set to host Super Bowl LIX in February, can seat more than 70,000 people during a football game.
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