StM News

NEW ORLEANS (February 27, 2024) – Walter F. Becker, Jr., a New Orleans native who grew up Uptown in the shadows of venerable Tulane Stadium, the home of the Sugar Bowl for the organization’s first 41 years, has been selected as the Sugar Bowl Committee’s President for the 2024-25 year. A 1974 graduate of St. Martin’s Episcopal School, Becker earned his undergraduate and law degrees from Tulane University. He is the 66th president of the organization and will preside over the 91st annual playing of the Allstate Sugar Bowl Football Classic which will double as a College Football Playoff (CFP) Quarterfinal on January 1, 2025.

“It is an honor to be selected as President of the Sugar Bowl which has such an incredible, positive impact on the City of New Orleans and the State of Louisiana,” Becker said. “This year will be a very important year in the history of the Sugar Bowl. In the rapidly changing world of college football, we will work to maintain the Sugar Bowl’s position as one of the premier bowls which host the college playoffs and the national championship game. We will also work to make the citizens and companies of our city and state aware of the ways that they can step up and help the Sugar Bowl maintain its premier position and continue its important work.”

With the College Football Playoff expanding from four teams to 12 teams, the Allstate Sugar Bowl will be hosting one of the first Playoff Quarterfinals in history. The Bowl hosted four Playoff Semifinals in the four-team format – those four games combined for over 87 million television viewers. The most recent was this past season’s thriller between Washington and Texas as the Huskies held off the Longhorns, 37-31, on a last-second defensive stand to advance to the CFP National Championship.

For the 2024 and 2025 seasons, the field of 12 teams will be comprised of the five conference champions ranked highest by the selection committee (no minimum ranking requirement), plus the seven highest-ranked other teams. The four highest-ranked conference champions will be seeded one through four and each will receive a first-round bye. The other eight teams will play in the first round with the higher seeds hosting the lower seeds either on campus or at other sites designated by the higher-seeded institution.

The 2024-25 postseason bracket will be released by the Selection Committee on Sunday, December 8 via a live ESPN broadcast.

In addition to his duties with the football classic, Becker will oversee the Allstate Sugar Bowl’s hosting and sponsorship of wide-range of additional events, including many amateur sporting events, in 2024. Included in that list are the Sugar Bowl Country Kickoff, a world-class country music concert; 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.

For the past 23 years, Becker has been in private practice at the law firm of Chaffe McCall, LLP. He is a Partner and an experienced litigator who handles both criminal and civil litigation – he currently leads the Criminal Investigations and White-Collar Criminal Defense Section of the firm. Licensed in Louisiana and Texas, he serves as General Counsel for the New Orleans Office of the Inspector General. He has served on the Lawyer Disciplinary Committee for the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana and on the Board of Directors of the Federal Bar Association, New Orleans Chapter. He has been recognized as an outstanding attorney by Chambers USA, Martindale-Hubbell, Best Lawyers in America, Super Lawyers, New Orleans Magazine, City Business, and other publications. He also is an expert jury consultant.

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 more than $2.5 billion for the city and state.

Since being elected to the Sugar Bowl Committee in 2007, Becker has served on a wide-range of committees, including multiple years on the Bowl’s Executive Committee. Additionally, Becker 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. Outside the Bowl, Becker has served as an Elder and as Clerk of Session at St. Charles Avenue Presbyterian Church. He coached and served in leadership positions at Carrollton Boosters and the Carrollton Soccer Association.

Becker succeeds Richard Briede, who directed the organization through the past year, and will serve with fellow officers Dorothy “Dottie” Reese, President-Elect; Riley Busenlener, Vice President; Sam Zurik, III, Treasurer; and W. Scott Duggins, Secretary. Furthermore, Lloyd Frischhertz, the Sugar Bowl President for 2022-23, was elected Chairman of the Executive Committee, and joining the 25-member Executive Committee for 2024-25 are Gregory M. Bowser, Brian Capitelli, Marlin N. Gusman Jr., and Anne Teague Landis.

After graduating from Tulane Law School, Becker served as an Assistant District Attorney in Orleans Parish for four years. After leaving the DA’s Office, he had a 14-year career as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Eastern District of Louisiana where he served as First Assistant U.S Attorney and Chief of the Criminal Division. He also served as an Associate Independent Counsel in Washington, D.C.

Becker and his wife Laurie have two adult daughters who now live in Alabama and Texas.

The Allstate Sugar Bowl has established itself as one of the premier college football bowl games, having hosted 29 national champions, 107 Hall of Fame players, 52 Hall of Fame coaches and 21 Heisman Trophy winners in its 90-year history. In addition to football, the Sugar Bowl Committee annually invests over $1 million into the community through the hosting and sponsorship of sporting events, awards, scholarships and clinics. Through these efforts, the organization supports and honors thousands of student-athletes each year, while injecting more than $2.5 billion into the local economy in the last decade. For more information, visit www.AllstateSugarBowl.org.