I would not expect an international audience to know what the heck Louisiana might be, even if they could figure out that LA is the postal abbreviation for it. Would you understand if a title used "MZ" to refer to the Polish province with a comparable population and economic prominence?
Something that still requires a little more knowledge but makes Louisiana slightly more known is that New Orleans, or NOLA like the news source is named, is in Louisiana (it is where the LA from NOLA comes from). New Orleans is slightly more known than random places but still requires a few steps of thought. All this is to say, it is funny to add in the 'little known' part but LA in this context was always going to be a little confusing.