NEW ORLEANS -- The NFL wants to keep the Super Bowl in New Orleans, where political and business leaders are trying to ensure the event goes off without a hitch, even if delayed by a week, Mayor Marc Morial said.

Businesses in this heavily tourist-dependent city have been on the verge of panic since the NFL decided Tuesday to push back its regular season by a week because of terrorist attacks that led the league to postpone last weekend's games.

Morial said he spoke with NFL vice president Jim Steeg about the matter Wednesday.

Undecided is whether the league will shorten early round playoffs and keep the Super Bowl on schedule for Jan. 27 or push the entire postseason back by a week as well.

The latter poses a substantial conflict in New Orleans, where the National Automobile Dealers Association has scheduled a convention Feb. 3. The NFL's policy is not to hold the Super Bowl in a city where another major event has been scheduled, and Morial said it was doubtful that New Orleans has the ability to handle both NADA and the Super Bowl simultaneously.

"The NFL certainly must explore every option that it has, but we are here in New Orleans, the business and political leadership of this city, working closely with the NFL on what a revised playoff schedule would look like," Morial said.

NADA spokesman David Hyatt said that, on NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue's request, the association looked into rescheduling its convention and decided it could not.

NADA has booked 25,000 hotel rooms and 30,000 people already committed to attending, including former British Prime Minister John Major as a paid speaker, Hyatt said.

"The reality is: This is one of the larger conventions in the world and if we could have accommodated the NFL we would have because we certainly appreciate the Super Bowl," he said.

NADA also is important to New Orleans, which hosts the event about every four years.

One option under consideration by the NFL is to pick another Super Bowl site and to have New Orleans host both conference championships in a day-night doubleheader format on Jan. 27.

But even though that option would draw a fan base from four cities instead of two, Morial was hopeful that the NFL would settle on an option to keep the Super Bowl, with its week-long schedule of elaborate pregame festivities.

The Super Bowl "is the seminal sporting event for Americans," Morial said. "I'm confident, after talking to the NFL, that they're committed to New Orleans. They know New Orleans is the very best place to have a Super Bowl."

If the Super Bowl were pushed back two weeks, another problem crops up: the height of the Mardi Gras parade season. One of the largest parades, Endymion, ends with a huge ball in the Superdome on Feb. 9.

"I do not believe we can handle the game on that weekend," the mayor said.