The clock is ticking as South Bay leaders prepare for Super Bowl 60 at Levi’s Stadium.
To kick it off, a procession of roughly 30 Bay Area representatives, including San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, traveled to New Orleans last week to soak in the Crescent City’s best practices hosting its 11th Super Bowl. South Bay officials want to avoid what happened 10 years ago at Super Bowl 50, when San Francisco was the focal point for all the festivities, recognition and financial gain, even though the event was at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara.
Santa Clara City Manager Jovan Grogan and two representatives from his office also went to New Orleans, along with emergency service representatives from Santa Clara’s police and fire departments, city spokesperson Janine De la Vega said. They were able to observe how officials in New Orleans managed pre-game day operations, security procedures and emergency responses.
“It provided invaluable insights to those who attended,” De la Vega told San José Spotlight.
Bay Area Host Committee CEO and President Zaileen Janmohamed said visiting New Orleans was a good opportunity to see the Super Bowl’s operations in action. The city has hosted more Super Bowls than any other except Miami.
“It felt like being in the dressing room before you get out (to) play a really important game,” Janmohamed told San José Spotlight.
While it was helpful to see how New Orleans handled the Super Bowl, Janmohamed said there are differences in the two host cities’ geographies. The Bay Area is a physically larger region with dozens of cities, so Super Bowl related events will be more spread out.
Janmohamed said the host committee is planning for the events and festivities surrounding the Super Bowl to be inclusive of the whole Bay Area.
“For me, it’s not just about the game on the field, it’s actually about the week before, the months before. It’s about how do you bring football out into the communities in the Bay,” she said. “For me to make that happen, I need to have the entirety of the Bay involved.”
When Levi’s Stadium hosted the Super Bowl in 2016, a report showed revenue from the event was concentrated in San Francisco, rather than hometown cities like San Jose and Santa Clara. More than 57% of revenue was generated in San Francisco, more than 12% in San Jose and about 7% in Santa Clara.
Officials from the NFL and New Orleans Super Bowl Host Committee held two days of meetings on topics ranging from transportation and community relations to safety. Other members of the Bay Area Host Committee joined Janmohamed, as well as city employees from Santa Clara, San Jose and San Francisco.
Leaders across the South Bay have been preparing to host thousands of fans in 2026, with two major sports events scheduled — Super Bowl 60 in February and six FIFA World Cup games in June and July.
Mahan was in New Orleans from Friday through Monday representing Bay Area elected officials during the NFL’s host hand-off ceremony, according to his spokesperson Tasha Dean.
San Jose plans to host more fans in 2026 between the Super Bowl and World Cup. Dean said Mahan visited multiple fan events and public displays, even seeking input from residents on Instagram about what San Jose should do.
“San Jose has been preparing for months in order to ensure we receive our fair share of the estimated $1.4 billion in economic impact from (the) Super Bowl and World Cup, and invest in sports, arts and entertainment infrastructure that will last far beyond 2026,” Mahan told San José Spotlight. “We want fans from all over the world to fly, stay and play in San Jose.”
Contact B. Sakura Cannestra at [email protected] or @SakuCannestra on X.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.