NEW ORLEANS – Richard Briede, a prominent New Orleans businessman, has been selected as the Sugar Bowl Committee’s President for the 2023-24 year.
A 1973 graduate of Brother Martin High School, Briede attended LSU on a track scholarship and earned his degree in business administration in 1977. A fourth-generation funeral director, Briede is currently the senior funeral director and market ambassador for Lake Lawn Metairie Cemeteries and Funeral Home. He is the 65th president of the organization and will oversee the 90th annual playing of the Allstate Sugar Bowl Football Classic which will double as a College Football Playoff (CFP) Semifinal.
“I’m honored to have the opportunity to take over as President of the Sugar Bowl Committee. I’d like to thank my fellow committee members for entrusting me with this position and I look forward to continuing the efforts of the 64 great leaders that have come before me in this position. This will be another exciting year for the Sugar Bowl and for the city of New Orleans as we’ll be celebrating our 90th anniversary and hosting a Playoff Semifinal game. We’ll also have many other events throughout the year that will continue to give a boost to our great city.”
This year will mark the fourth time the Sugar Bowl Committee has hosted a semifinal game – the first two Playoff Semifinals were hugely successful sellouts. In the 2015 contest, Ohio State upended Alabama 42-35 and went on to claim the national championship, while the 2018 Sugar Bowl saw Alabama defeat Clemson 24-6 on its way to a national title. Ohio State and Alabama were the 27th and 28th college football national champions to be hosted by the Sugar Bowl. The 2021 Sugar Bowl, in which Ohio State topped Clemson, 49-28, was also a sellout event, but with only 3,000 fans due to COVID-19 restrictions. The three Playoff Semifinals combined for nearly 70 million television viewers.
The match-up for the 2024 Allstate Sugar Bowl will be determined by the College Football Playoff Selection Committee. The committee will rank the top teams in the country with the top four in the final ranking (to be released Sunday, December 3) being paired up in the Playoff Semifinals. The Rose Bowl will host the other semifinal game.
In addition, Briede will oversee the Allstate Sugar Bowl’s hosting and sponsorship of wide-range of additional events, including many amateur sporting events, in 2023. Included in that list are the Manning Award, which honors college football’s top quarterback; the Greater New Orleans Sports Hall of Fame; two basketball tournaments; a volleyball tournament; multiple soccer tournaments; several youth golf events; and competitions in lacrosse, sailing and tennis.
The Sugar Bowl Committee was founded as the New Orleans Mid-Winter Sports Association in 1934 for the purpose of promoting amateur sporting events that would stimulate tourism and have a positive economic effect on the New Orleans metropolitan area. Over the last decade, the Sugar Bowl has had an economic impact of nearly $2.4 billion for the city and state.
Since being elected to the Sugar Bowl Committee in 1995, Briede has served on a wide-range of committees, including multiple years on the Bowl’s Executive Committee. Additionally, Briede has served as a Sugar Bowl officer for the past five years and previously spearheaded one of the Bowl’s team host committees for several years. He also led the Bowl’s prestigious entertainment committee for multiple years. Outside the Bowl, Briede is a member of the board of directors for the New Orleans chapter of the LSU Alumni Association – the Crescent City Tigers; the Semreh Club, which operates the Mardi Gras Krewe of Hermes, a New Orleans Mardi Gras parade krewe founded in 1937; and the New Orleans Track Club.
Briede succeeds Lloyd Frischhertz, who directed the organization through the past year, and will serve with fellow officers Walter F. Becker, Jr., President-Elect; Dorothy “Dottie” Reese, Vice President; Riley Busenlener, Treasurer; and Sam Zurik, III, Secretary. Furthermore, Frischhertz, was elected Chairman of the Executive Committee, and joining the 18-member Executive Committee for 2023-24 are Kurt Fromherz, Brian A. Jackson, Raymond J. Jeandron, III, and Caroline C. Zatarain.
Briede has served in his current position with Lake Lawn Metairie Cemeteries and Funeral Home since 2017. Prior to that he was the sales director for Lake Lawn Metairie Cemeteries and Funeral Home, Greenwood Funeral Home and St. Bernard Memorial Gardens and Funeral Home from 2006-17. He was the director of operations for Stewart Enterprises, one of the largest providers of funeral and cemetery services in the United States from 1998-2006. After his graduation from LSU, he went straight into the funeral services sector.
Briede has been very actives in various professional organizations throughout his career. He was the president of the Louisiana Funeral Directors Association in 1984-85, the president of the Louisiana Cemetery Association from 2002-03, and is a former member of the Louisiana State Cemetery Board.
At Brother Martin High School, Briede was a star in both the long jump and triple jump; his top marks in those events from 50 years ago remain the school records. He went on to be a consistent point scorer in both events for LSU during his career, including scoring at four different SEC Championship meets with a top finish of third place in the triple jump (49-7.75) at the 1975 SEC Outdoor Championships.
Briede and his wife Doretta Smith, who passed away in 2022, have two daughters, Dorie and Allison, and five grandchildren. Allison is also a member of the Sugar Bowl Committee, and was elected to the organization’s executive committee last year.
{Courtesy: Allstate Sugar Bowl}
