With Tremendous Bowl LX lower than six months away, the Santa Clara Metropolis Council this week signed off on a key settlement that ensures town might be reimbursed for the estimated $6.4 million it should value to host the massive sport.
The deal is healthier than the one town struck when Levi’s Stadium hosted Tremendous Bowl 50 in 2016, in keeping with Metropolis Supervisor Jovan Grogan.
“It covers reimbursement for our costs as well as provides a financial backstop,” he informed the council. “It provides a very detailed and transparent process for reimbursement and advanced payments.”
The Bay Space Host Committee — a nonprofit that was shaped in 2022 with the aim of bringing main sporting occasions to the area — will cowl the prices incurred by town. The San Francisco 49ers, by means of the staff’s stadium operations firm StadCo, have additionally agreed to behave as a monetary backstop in case the Bay Space Host Committee can’t pay its payments.
The settlement mirrors an identical deal made earlier this yr for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Santa Clara subsequent yr is ready to turn out to be the primary metropolis to host each main sporting occasions in the identical calendar yr, with the Tremendous Bowl on Feb. 8 and 6 World Cup matches between June 13 and July 1.
Jihad Beauchman, the manager vp and basic counsel for the 49ers, mentioned in an announcement that the staff seems to be ahead to finalizing the remaining particulars with metropolis officers.
“This final vote confirms that Santa Clara will be able host two of the world’s largest events in 2026, with no costs from the city’s general fund,” he mentioned. “We look forward to working with the Bay Area Host Committee and Santa Clara to put on these historic events, which will generate an estimated $1 billion for the Bay Area economy next year.”
However the determination to approve the settlement wasn’t unanimous — Mayor Lisa Gillmor and Vice Mayor Kelly Cox voted towards it, elevating considerations that town’s coffers may nonetheless be in danger.
When Santa Clara voters authorised the stadium again in 2010 through Measure J, the poll initiative included taxpayer protections that prevented town from dipping into the final fund for stadium or event-related bills.
The settlement authorised by nearly all of the council requires the Bay Space Host Committee to make a sophisticated cost of fifty% of the estimated occasion prices on or earlier than Dec. 25, 2025. Zaileen Janmohamed, the president and CEO of the nonprofit, has mentioned up to now that fundraising goes properly, however has declined to provide any numbers citing confidentiality.
The framework that metropolis officers have negotiated, although, isn’t robust sufficient for Gillmor, who mentioned that it places town in danger because the Bay Space Host Committee and the 49ers’ StadCo don’t have any “meaningful unencumbered assets”
“I think the Super Bowl is a great opportunity, but it should never come at the expense or the risk of the Santa Clara taxpayers,” she mentioned. “I think that by requiring a letter of credit or some kind of guarantee, we ensure that every dollar we spend on public safety and city services is reimbursed.”
Each metropolis officers and Beauchman disagreed with the necessity for a letter of credit score.
“This idea that StadCo possibly would not be able to pay these amounts, I think we have a fairly strong record of 11 years of performing and paying those amounts and also a significant record to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars of paying those amounts,” Beauchman informed the mayor.
Councilmember Suds Jain mentioned he was “confused about how this is risky” within the mayor’s view.
“If StadCo was unable to pay the $6.4 million, how are they going to pay the $24 million of stadium rent annually?” he mentioned. “It just doesn’t make any sense to me.”
Solely minor modifications have been made to the settlement because the metropolis unveiled the preliminary particulars final month — together with an up to date value estimate that elevated by roughly $125,000. The $6.4 million determine may change once more within the coming months.
A big chunk of that quantity comes from the price of being the lead public security company that may present safety main as much as and throughout the occasion. Metropolis Lawyer Glen Googins referred to as it a “heavy lift” and a “challenging thing” for town to do.
“But it is absolutely something that your public safety officers and Santa Clara PD wants to do and they’re really good at it,” he mentioned. “It’s an elite group. They take pride in this, they take pride in protecting the community and the people who attend these events.”
The council is anticipated to log off on the particular occasion zone for the Tremendous Bowl within the subsequent month, which helps regulate the actions within the perimeter across the stadium.
