It was 31 years ago that the San Francisco area last hosted the Super Bowl.
Super Bowl XIX was played at Stanford Stadium in Palo Alto, Calif. on Jan. 20, 1985. The game continues to grow as an event, and the San Francisco Host committee used a regional approach to pull off this year’s version, the 50th anniversary of the NFL title game that long ago evolved into the nation’s top mega-sports event.
The Atlanta committee, which is bidding to host either the 2019 or 2020 Super Bowl, can take some notes from what has worked in San Francisco and what has not worked during Super Bowl week.
Keith Bruce, a marketing executive, has served as president and CEO of the Super Bowl 50 host committee.
Officials from the NFL, the San Francisco 49ers and the mayors of San Jose, Santa Clara, San Francisco and Oakland served on the committee.
The committee is proud of its regional approach to planning, preparing and hopes to create a legacy of impact for the Bay Area.
“The Super Bowl is a cultural phenomenon in the United States that actually transcends sports,” Bruce recently told the Marin Independent Journal. “It’s about the celebrity; it’s about the entertainment; it’s about the halftime show and the mystique and magic of the Super Bowl.”
And then there’s the football game, which will pit the Carolina Panthers against the Denver Broncos at 6:30 p.m. Sunday from Levi’s Stadium, the $1.2 billion crown jewel that made San Francisco’s bid possible.
The San Francisco Super Bowl committee has raised more than $50 million for the game. The Glendale, Ariz., committee, which hosted last season, raised more than $30 million.
The Atlanta host committee hopes to raises most of its funds from the hotel-motel tax and through corporate fundraising.
The game is being played in Santa Clara, some 45 miles from downtown San Francisco, which expects 1 million tourists over the course of Super Bowl Week.
The committee has the technology infrastructure to support the game. An estimated 60 percent of the millions watching the game will have a mobile device or smartphone with them.
A telephone company sponsored San Francisco’s Super Bowl City, which was billed as a showcase of the best the Bay Area has to offer with interactive games and activities, excellent food and to show over the region’s diversity.
The Atlanta committee will need to have a better plan for the homeless. San Francisco has been accused of herding the homeless out of downtown and into tent encampments, which has some advocates for the homeless outraged. It’s been a staple of the nightly local newscasts.
The Atlanta committee also will need to start recruiting an army of volunteers. There will be something to do for all of the civic-minded folks.
Every where you turn in the Bay Area, there’s a person welcoming you to the city. A pack of about 50 volunteers thanked fans for coming to the “Opening Night” media event as they left SAP Center in San Jose.
The advantage that Atlanta will have is that most of the events should be downtown and not so spread out over 48 miles that separate downtown San Francisco and San Jose, where some events were held.
“We have the largest aquarium in the world,” Falcons owner Arthur Blank said. “The National Civil Rights Museum, the World of Coke, the kids’ museum and all kinds of great amenities and all of them are within walking distance. That’s a major plus for bringing the Super Bowl to Atlanta.”
Another function that the Atlanta community may want to emulate is the philanthropy tied to the game. The Bay Area committee is expected to donate more that $13 million to local nonprofits.
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