The Super Bowl game in 2013 was memorable for its dramatic comeback and unexpected blackout that halted play. During the second half of the game, a power outage plunged parts of the Mercedes Benz Super Dome in New Orleans into darkness, including the playing field. After a 34 minute delay, play resumed but the outage cost millions in lost revenue and damaged credibility. An investigation found that a newly installed electrical relay was likely at fault after being improperly set too low for the stadium's power needs.

1. The Super bowl is always the most talked about Television Events of the year, and this
year the game was more interesting than usual. An impressive comeback in the
second half, following a blackout made this game one to remember. Until……
someone or “something “dropped the ball !

2. WHAT: Problem: Delay during the Super bowl
WHEN: Date: 02/03/2013
DIFFERENCES: Newly Upgraded Electrical System
WHERE: Physical Location: Mercedes Benz Super Dome in New Orleans
IMPACT: Millions lost in Revenues & Credibility
SCHEDULE: Second half of Super Bowl Delayed
MATERIAL: Replacement of Electrical Relay Needed
Exposure: 108 MILLION LIVE
VIEWERS

3. The system automatically shut off power at 8:37 p.m. EST.
Play resumed at 9:30 p.m.
Auxiliary power kept the playing field from going totally
dark. Some dome lights remained.
Concourses were only illuminated by small banks of lights
tied in to emergency service. Escalators stopped working,
credit card and vending machines shut down.
One of two power feeder lines going into the stadium from
an external substation is thought to be source of the
problem. Authorities would not disclose the location of the
problem line.

4. The main lights housed in the periphery of
the 9.7 acre roof lost power.
The west side was plunged into darkness.
Press box level lost all power. Play-by-play
announcers went silent.
Numerous camera and audio broadcasts
were lost.
The 27-by-48-foot scoreboard went dark.

6. S & C Electric Co., the electrical relay manufacturer
in Chicago
SMG, The Super Dome’s management company.
Entergy New Orleans, the company responsible for
supplying electricity for the Superdome
Beyoncé Knowles, International recording artist and
half time performer
The Top Suspects

7. It was NOT Beyonce! She
brought her own generator for
the show.
Enteric Electric, monitored the
power during the game and
determined that a Relay was
tripped, causing the outage.
The upgrades to the electrical
system by SMG was performed
by a sub contractor, ALLSTAR
Electric.
Quality Control Systems were
in place at S & C Electric.
Same for Enteric Electric of
New Orleans. The contractor
ALLSTAR Electric, who
installed and setup the
relay, seems to fall short on
Quality Controls. Although
they do have quality controls
in place, they do not have
controls for HUMAN ERROR.
S & C Electric designed and
built the Relays for this
installation. They tested the
relays AFTER the Super Bowl
and noted that one of the
Relays in question was set too
low for the power.
Preliminary
Findings

8. SMG
Management
Entertic
ALLSTA
R
S &
C
SMG has the operation and
management of upgrades at
the time of the blackout.
PRIOR to the blackout, what
were SMG’s SWOT

9. STRENGTHS WEAKNESSES
THREATSOPPORTUNITIES
SMG SWOT ANALYSIS

10. List of STRENGTHS
You can change the pictures or remove them
all together.
• Experienced Workforce
• Design, planning and Programming Services
• Operations
Additional Strengths
• Awareness
• Meeting Deadlines
• Creation of a Punch List
STRENGTHS

11. List of WEAKNESSES
You can change the pictures or remove them
all together.
• Reputation on stake
• Allocation of tasks
• Services
Additional Weaknesses
• Unable to identify Human Error Defects
• Not Promoting In house Training
WEAKNESSES

12. List of OPPORTUNITES
• Future Prospects
• Expansion
• Advertising and Marketing
OPPORTUNITIES

13. List of THREATS
• Market Share
• Reputation
• Competitors
Additional Threats
• Being ON TOP
• Loss of Market/Venues
THREATS

14. Solutions
• Proper Supervision
• Effective Communication
• Personnel Capabilities
• Scrutiny at frequent intervals
• A Brain
• Smaller Zones
• Automated Recovery

15. POKE YOKE
Quality Control
Recommendations
– Poke Yoke is a
Japanese
word meaning
“Fail-Safing”.
A Poka-yoke is
any
mechanism in
a lean
manufacturin
g process that
helps an
operator
avoid (yokeru)
Chaku - Chaku
• Chaku-Chaku in
Japanese means
“One Worker, Several
Tasks”. This
technique couples
with Poke Yoke will
greatly reduce the
Human Error factor.

16. POKE – YOKE

17. The Lawyers will be busy for
years