One of the biggest events in the world may be coming to the Bay Area in 2016.
On May 21, NFL owners will vote on what city will get the honor of hosting the 50th Super Bowl in NFL history. The two cities in the running: Miami and Santa Clara.
If you ever travel to the South Bay, you have probably seen the construction going on next to the Great America theme park. The large metal thing you see adjacent to their parking lot is Levi’s Stadium, the new home of the San Francisco 49ers. The stadium is set to open for the start of the 2014 football season.
With Florida’s legislature not willing to shell out the cash needed to make necessary upgrades to their stadium in Miami, Santa Clara is now almost certain to win the 2016 bid.
We all know the type of hype that is generated when the Super Bowl is going on, the celebrities that show up, the non-stop partying. Now, imagine that taking place in the Bay Area.
“I would definitely go down there to check it out,” Allen Guzman, LPC student, said. “Even if the 49ers aren’t in it, it would still be a once in a lifetime experience.”
According to Nola.com, last season’s Super Bowl in New Orleans generated $73 million in ticket sales alone, not including the millions in luxury box sales, concessions and parking. Those numbers would most likely be similar here in the Bay Area, and if you count the money that businesses around the area will earn, it would do wonders for the Bay Area economy.
Also, with the way the 49ers have been playing lately, appearing in the Super Bowl this past season, it’s no stretch to think we could be watching them play for the Lombardi Trophy in their own house in 2016.
“That would be a dream come true,” Eric Sarkisian, LPC student, said. “To see the 49ers playing in the Super Bowl here in the Bay would be awesome.”
The last time the Bay Area hosted a Super Bowl was 1985 down in Palo Alto at Stanford Stadium.
Coincidentally, the 49ers played in that game, thrashing the Miami Dolphins 38-16.
In 1985, MC Hammer was getting his start in the music industry and mullets were cool.
If the NFL votes Santa Clara to host the big game in 2016, get ready to party like it’s 1985 all over again.