With less than an hour to go before kickoff, the Superdome is still half empty. (Or half full.) But unless about 30,000 San Francisco fans are on their way in, the Baltimore contingent will be the louder fan base here in New Orleans on Super Bowl Sunday.
Ravens jerseys have outnumbered 49ers jerseys in New Orleans all week, and at the Superdome on Sunday, the fans of the Ravens are much louder than the fans of the 49ers. When Joe Flacco was shown on the big screens in the stadium, he got loud cheers; 49ers players were met with more muted cheers and quite a few boos.
It’s also worth noting that there seems to be a fairly large contingent of Saints fans in the house -- definitely more fans in Saints jerseys this year than I noticed Colts fans in Indianapolis last year or Cowboys fans in Dallas two years go. That might make for a frosty postgame reception for NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.