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Santa Clara City Council Super Bowl Report: Public Likely to Pay for Planning Costs

By Robert Haugh

The Santa Clara City Council, acting as the Stadium Authority, got a Super Bowl planning update at the Council meeting on Tuesday.

City Staff reported on a variety of efforts to prepare for 2026 Super Bowl from public safety to emergency preparedness.

The big news that was revealed is that the public is likely to pay for Super Bowl planning expenses.

City Manager Jovan Grogan presented the following chart that lists cost categories for NFL, non-NFL, and other major events. 

According to Grogan, the Stadium Authority and the City may not be paid back for “Pre-Agreement Costs” unless the 49ers agree.  

On Grogan’s chart, the costs are listed as “TBD”, to be determined.

Grogan and City Attorney Glen Googins have been negotiating with the team for months but have not presented an agreement to the City Council.

Googins said on Tuesday that he believes it can be done by the end of May, but suggested the 49ers might not cooperate with that timeline.  

That means Santa Clarans will not know the potential public cost of major stadium events, even though the events were promoted with the promise that taxpayer dollars would not be used.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, a confidential City staff report sets the potential public cost at $38 million.

The Bay Area Host Committee, a nonprofit organization set up by the 49ers, is responsible for raising funds to pay for public safety and other event costs for Super Bowl 60 and the FIFA World Cup in 2026. 

Their President and CEO Zaileen Janmohamed said on Tuesday that they are ahead of projections for fundraising but offered no specific information.  She referred people to the organization’s website that lists only a few partners and no major sponsors.

If the Committee falls short of its fundraising goals, the 49ers are responsible for the financial gap.

But in the past, the team has refused to pay the City for numerous major items and instead sued the City.

In 2018, the City won a major victory to stop the 49ers from lowering their own rent. 

But since 2020, when the 49ers spent millions of dollars to take over the City Council, the 49er Five have settled lawsuits that gave away millions of dollars to the team, according to independent analysis by the Chronicle.

8 comments

  3. @CSC: Or whomever the 49ers are paying to be their current spokesperson, you are so, so funny.
    Your comments make many of us smile.
    Thank You!!
    Every job should have a redeeming value, and humor is important in the World.

    Santa Clara Resident

    Reply

  4. Yesterday, I was listening to Mayor Daniel Lurie, newly elected mayor of San Francisco, during an interview on the sports radio station KNBR.

    Mayor Lurie repeatedly stated how great it was that the Superbowl and 5 world class soccer games will be coming to THE CITY OF SAN FRANCISCO. He repeated this numerous times.

    A few weeks ago, Mayor Mahan of San Jose, was in the press, repeating the same thing essentially about San Jose.

    Both Mayor Lurie and Mayor Mahan know, rightfully so, that their respective cities are not on the hook financially, but have everything to gain. This is all on the back of Santa Clara to burden the massive financial losses. The taxpayers of Santa Clara, the citizens that have lived here for decades, will be paying directly out of their pockets for the massive losses, and to financially support San Francisco and San Jose.

    Having our inept City Manager and City Attorney, along with the feckless 49er 5, negotiate these most complex contracts, is like the San Jose Giants playing the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series.

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  5. On 5/23/23 the Council unanimously adopted this negotiating principle: “Attain reimbursement of all event costs, including public safety (pre- and post-event costs)”

    In adopting this principle, the Mayor said: “I AGREE WITH AUTHORITY MEMBER CHAHAL THAT I WANT TO PROTECT NOT ONLY THE CITY, BUT THE STADIUM AUTHORITY FROM THESE FINANCIAL RISKS AND HAVE THE HOST COMMITTEE, WHOEVER THEY ARE, WE WILL FIND OUT WHO EXACT THEY ARE SO THAT THEY PAY FOR EVERYTHING.”

    Staff gave away all their leverage by expending the time and money of negotiating the deal without getting the reimbursement UPFRONT. City staff are simply the world’s worst negotiators; you never spend the money first and then negotiate to get it back.

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    • Again, Brian, you don’t appear to be savvy with commercial decisions as an attorney or businessman.

      There is no such thing as “reimbursement upfront.” An entity either (a) agrees to be reimbursed for costs and fees in arrears (Time & Material), (b) negotiates an advance payment (flat/retainer), or (c) a hybrid advanced/retainer plus hourly fees or revenue/award split. If you were once part of a successful practice, you should know this. https://www.rocketlawyer.com/business-and-contracts/service-contracts/professional-services-contracts/legal-guide/how-lawyers-bill-for-their-services

      In business, companies or entities are often responsible for the time and materials spent on evaluating whether they want to participate in a commercial opportunity. In this case, the discovery is to evaluate an investment and partnership in supporting the NFL Super Bowl and the FIFA World Cup. If the involved parties determine there is a probable chance of executing the business plan, it is then reasonable to establish a paid proof-of-concept agreement. https://nealcabage.com/framework/opportunity-heuristics/

      The process and potential outcome are no different from when the Santa Clara Stadium Authority negotiated to bring Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour to Levis Stadium. Ask Lisa Gillmor how she thinks that went.

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    • Of course there is prepayment to public entities. Developers pay deposits into payment agreements with cities all the time to defray expected City expenditures such as CEQA studies and other predevelopments costs. Nobody forced the City Manager and his staff to go on those Super Bowl junkets to Las Vegas on the public’s dime. He could have easily said no one is going to do any Super Bowl services without a signed agreement by the Host Committee or the NFL to pay all of the costs, just as the Council directed. I didn’t hear the Host Committee object to Council’s adoption of that principle back in 2023.

      Reply

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