Strange as it sounds, New Orleans finds itself in the rare position of “underdog” as it makes its bid on Tuesday to host Super Bowl LIII in 2019.

A win would mark the 11th Super Bowl in New Orleans’ history – breaking a tie with Miami for the most all time.

However, New Orleans lost out in its last attempt to host the Super Bowl two years ago, when the NFL owners awarded Super Bowl LII to Minneapolis because of a new stadium. And now New Orleans finds itself up against another city with a new stadium – Atlanta – as well as other classic Super Bowl hosts Miami and Tampa.

The NFL will award a total of three Super Bowls to bidding host cities on Tuesday during the league meetings in Charlotte. And one of those cities almost certainly will be Los Angeles, which is bidding for 2020 and 2021.

But New Orleans is only able to bid for 2019 because it is hosting the college football championship game in 2020 and has conflicts with Mardi Gras and a major convention in 2021.

“So we think we’re an underdog, because of the limited dates that we have and we have some great competition here,” said Jay Cicero, the president of the Greater New Orleans Sports Foundation.

But NOLA’s hope is NFL owners like their city enough to wait an extra year on the new stadiums.

“We think the NFL could have everything they want in awarding the two new stadiums in ‘20 and ’21, and then having the best city -- which the media, the fans and everyone agrees the best city to host is New Orleans – in ’19,” Cicero said. “That’s our hope, that the owners will see it that way.”

New Orleans last hosted the Super Bowl in 2013, and it has long been a popular host site because of the culture, entertainment and dining options within walking distance – not to mention 20,000 hotel rooms, per Cicero.

“We’re able to do it for a lot less money and do it better than other cities,” Cicero said.

And the Mercedes-Benz Superdome has undergone nearly $400 million worth of renovations itself over the past decade, including new state-of-the-art video boards being installed this year.

But history suggests it will have a tough time beating out Atlanta, Los Angeles and Miami, which is reportedly putting more than $400 million into Sun Life Stadium upgrades.

Longtime Superdome manager Doug Thornton and New Orleans Tourism Marketing Corporation president Mark Roming will make Tuesday’s presentation to owners, with an assist from the Saints and owner Tom Benson.