AN OFFICIAL LINEUP of Super Bowl fanfare events largely snubs the South Bay in favor of San Francisco — 50 miles north of where the game will actually happen.
San Jose appears just once on a list of NFL-endorsed concerts, meet-and-greets and press events announced by the Bay Area Host Committee, the region’s major sports event organizer led by executives of the San Francisco 49ers and other athletic teams. Santa Clara — home to Levi’s Stadium where the game will take place — isn’t on the list at all.
Santa Clara and San Jose are expected to put on their own events and watch parties.
San Jose Spotlight logo, for use only with SJS-produced stories. " data-image-caption data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/localnewsmatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/LNM-20250616-SJSPOTLIGHTLOGO-01.jpg?fit=300%2C93&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/localnewsmatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/LNM-20250616-SJSPOTLIGHTLOGO-01.jpg?fit=780%2C243&ssl=1" src="https://i0.wp.com/localnewsmatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/LNM-20250616-SJSPOTLIGHTLOGO-01.jpg?resize=1024%2C319&ssl=1" alt class="wp-image-158536" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/localnewsmatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/LNM-20250616-SJSPOTLIGHTLOGO-01.jpg?w=1024&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/localnewsmatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/LNM-20250616-SJSPOTLIGHTLOGO-01.jpg?resize=300%2C93&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/localnewsmatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/LNM-20250616-SJSPOTLIGHTLOGO-01.jpg?resize=768%2C239&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/localnewsmatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/LNM-20250616-SJSPOTLIGHTLOGO-01.jpg?resize=780%2C243&ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/localnewsmatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/LNM-20250616-SJSPOTLIGHTLOGO-01.jpg?resize=400%2C125&ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/localnewsmatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/LNM-20250616-SJSPOTLIGHTLOGO-01.jpg?resize=706%2C220&ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/localnewsmatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/LNM-20250616-SJSPOTLIGHTLOGO-01.jpg?w=370&ssl=1 370w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px">
Some locals aren’t surprised. Others see confirmation that the area is poised for a repeat of the 2016 Super Bowl, when San Francisco reaped most of the economic success while hanging Santa Clara County out to dry. The last time Santa Clara hosted a Super Bowl a decade ago, a study commissioned by the sports league found most of the $240 million economic Bay Area boost went to San Francisco, about 57%, while just 12% went to San Jose and 7% to Santa Clara.
The event is already sapping Santa Clara County government resources, as officials struggle with budget deficits while planning security and public safety for the game with little hope for reimbursement. It’s particularly challenging during a time of unprecedented and steep federal funding cuts.
“It’s just another Charlie-Brown-and-the-football moment for San Jose,” Bob Staedler, a local business expert and land use consultant, told San José Spotlight. “There’s no reason they couldn’t host a fan fest at Plaza de Cesar Chavez. Some sort of a mini NFL experience. They could have given us one or two more things here. It’s the little sibling problem.”
A spokesperson for the Bay Area Host Committee declined to comment.
Left sitting on the sidelines
San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan has largely been the face of local preparedness for the games while Santa Clara’s relationship with the NFL is more icy. He’s taking the events snub in stride.
“This was anticipated — which is why we’ve focused on creating our own exciting lineup of events,” Mahan spokesperson Tasha Dean told San José Spotlight. “From major concerts with national headliners to hundreds of watch parties and an incredible lineup of culinary experiences, we aren’t concerned with the competition from San Francisco.”
The city is banking on the notion that tourists will opt to go straight to Santa Clara County.
“It’s just another Charlie-Brown-and-the-football moment for San Jose. … They could have given us one or two more things here. It’s the little sibling problem.” Bob Staedler, South Bay business expert
“There will be plenty of people who want to avoid hours of time in traffic and instead choose the ease of touching down at SJC, driving 10 minutes to Levi’s Stadium and spending their time accessing the world-class experiences we’re putting on right here in the South Bay,” Dean said.
Mahan has worked to project San Jose as a world-class city on par with San Francisco. He touted the hiring of a city sports czar, Tommy O’Hare, to ensure San Jose gets a large slice of the sports entertainment pie. Mahan even traveled to New Orleans last year for a Super Bowl host city “hand-off.”
Despite these efforts, Staedler said Mahan has been “outclassed” by San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie. In September, Lurie stood alongside Bay Area Host Committee CEO Zaileen Janmohamed and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell as they raised the Super Bowl 60 flag at San Francisco City Hall.
“San Jose needs to demand representation. The local legislative delegation needs to hold the 49ers accountable for all this stuff,” Staedler said. “It needs to be spread out across the area.”
Santa Clara overwhelmed by event planning
Instead of Santa Clara city officials feeling equally miffed at being left out, some are actually relieved. The reason ties back to the puzzling choice to place Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara.
“I think I’m shy about having big events to overwork our police force,” Santa Clara Councilmember Suds Jain told San José Spotlight. “It was a bad idea to put the stadium here — it takes about 100 police officers to manage the stadium. We only have 150 police officers. So, it’s a huge burden on our police force to do that.”
FILE: Fans attend activities outside Levi’s Stadium ahead of Super Bowl 50 in February 2016. The Super Bowl is returning to Santa Clara in 2026, but the NFL and Bay Area Host Committee are promoting events in San Francisco. (San Jose Spotlight file photo) " data-image-caption="
FILE: Fans attend activities outside Levi’s Stadium ahead of Super Bowl 50 in February 2016. The Super Bowl is returning to Santa Clara in 2026, but the NFL and Bay Area Host Committee are promoting events in San Francisco. (San Jose Spotlight file photo)
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FILE: Fans attend activities outside Levi’s Stadium ahead of Super Bowl 50 in February 2016. The Super Bowl is returning to Santa Clara in 2026, but the NFL and Bay Area Host Committee are promoting events in San Francisco. (San Jose Spotlight file photo)
That doesn’t mean Jain isn’t conflicted. He said while Santa Clara isn’t as willing to subsidize Super Bowl events as San Jose and San Francisco, he still wants to see people stay in Santa Clara hotels and attend local events.
“But I opposed the stadium coming here in the first place. Now I’m seeing city staff are really, really preoccupied with organizing these events, so it’s actually taking attention away from city business,” Jain said. “Which is something I thought about before the stadium came here, but I didn’t know it would be to this extent. It has really sort of taken over the city.”
Contact Brandon Pho at brandon@sanjosespotlight.com or @brandonphooo on X.
This story originally appeared in San Jose Spotlight.