Santa Clara council and Stadium Authority approve FIFA 2026 assignment, $25M stadium work; city to seek reimbursement for public-safety costs

The Santa Clara City Council and the Santa Clara Stadium Authority voted to approve an assignment-and-assumption agreement and related agreements to host matches of the FIFA Men’s World Cup in 2026, and authorized stadium field and bowl improvements to accommodate FIFA requirements. The combined action passed the councils sitting jointly, 5-2, after several hours of presentation and public comment.

The vote lets the Bay Area Host Committee assume the stadium obligations that were negotiated with FIFA and MANCO (the stadium manager). City Manager Jevon Grogan told the council that the field changes are “a $25,000,000 improvement … to be implemented at no cost to the city or the Stadium Authority” and that the draft agreement requires the host committee to reimburse the city for event-related public-safety expenses.

Why it matters: The agreements move most FIFA event obligations off the Stadium Authority and onto the Bay Area Host Committee, but they also formalize how the city will continue to provide public-safety, emergency-response and transportation services and how the city will be reimbursed. Staff estimated Santa Clara’s event-related planning and deployment costs at roughly $11,400,000 and said the host committee has agreed to monthly invoicing, dispute-resolution procedures and two advance payments timed before and during the matches.

Key points from the measures and negotiations - Assignment and assumption: MANCO will assign to the Bay Area Host Committee the FIFA stadium obligations in the stadium agreement. FIFA has reviewed the assignment language and must formally approve the assignment and release the Stadium Authority from the stadium agreement obligations. - Field and bowl work: The host committee will fund stadium bowl and field modifications required by FIFA, estimated in staff materials at $25,000,000. The work includes demolition of a few lower rows in the inner bowl, demountable steel structures, ADA platforms and field outlets. Permits have been prepared and staff said they are ready to issue them if the council authorizes the work. - City costs and reimbursement: The city will remain the lead public-safety agency at Levi’s Stadium and will invoice the host committee for “qualified event expenses” — planning, training, equipment and actual event deployments. Staff presented a preliminary estimate of about $11.4 million for city costs; the agreement treats that estimate as non‑binding and requires updates as planning proceeds. The host committee must make advance payments: 50% of estimated actual event expenses due May 1, 2026 (roughly $4.2 million on current estimates) and 25% due mid-event (roughly $2.2 million on current estimates). - Financial backstops and surcharge: The San Francisco 49ers’ TeamCo agreed to guarantee a set of obligations if the host committee cannot pay, including qualified event expenses and the field-improvement costs; the agreement also preserves a stadium-ticket surcharge (FIFA-authorized surcharge of $4 to $6 per sold ticket). Staff said the stadium-authority share of surcharge revenue would follow existing lease terms (50% to stadium authority general revenues, 50% to its discretionary fund) and that the agreement includes a limited offset that reduces the guarantor’s exposure by a capped amount (the parties negotiated an offset cap that staff said is $200,000 in the final form). - Naming-rights caveat: The one stadium obligation that could not be assigned away is the Authority’s commitment to Levi’s under the stadium naming-rights agreement; the draft agreement includes a mechanism for the host committee to provide funds so that the Stadium Authority’s obligations to Levi’s are covered. Staff said that obligation is estimated at about $1.6 million and is addressed in the negotiated terms.

What council and staff said City Manager Jevon Grogan summarized the package and said the agreements “ensure that no liability to the city’s general fund will be incurred” and described the advance-payment and guarantee structure as stronger than arrangements for prior big events. City Attorney Glenn Gugins framed the assignment as the proper way to reallocate risk for a projected net-loss event and emphasized the dispute-resolution and invoicing protections that were negotiated.

From the stadium/49ers side, Jihad Beachman, executive vice president and general counsel for the 49ers, said the construction work on the bowl corners is ready to start and that the prime contractor for the main corners project will be a union contractor (Devcon), which Beachman said will use union labor and union subcontractors for that work.

Public comment and labor concerns Many public speakers supported hosting the World Cup in Santa Clara and highlighted potential economic and youth-sports benefits: Jared Sholly, president of the San Jose Earthquakes and a Bay Area Host Committee board member, said the matches would “create jobs, boost local businesses, and leave a lasting economic legacy.” Coaches, former players and local nonprofit representatives — including Shay Salinas and Brandy Chastain — said youth soccer and community programs could benefit.

At the same time, labor and community advocates urged safeguards and clarity on jobs and wages. Doug Block of Unite Here Local 19 asked the city and the host committee to “promote labor harmony” and to ensure workers at the games have the right to organize and bargain. Some speakers pressed staff for more time and fuller disclosure: attorney and advocate Brian Doyle asked the council to continue the matter until documents that had been released late could be reviewed.

Council vote and next steps Councilmember Raj Chahal and other supporters said staff had protected the city’s interests in the negotiated language; Councilmember Suds Jain and Councilmember Kevin Park raised questions about process and documentation. Council voted 5-2 in favor of the staff recommendations to (a) approve the assignment and assumption and the associated guarantee language, (b) authorize the stadium bowl/field improvements and (c) direct the city manager/executive director to implement the agreements. Two council members voted no.

If the council’s action stands, staff said permits for the bowl work are ready to be issued and that work is expected to begin promptly to meet the construction window needed before non-NFL events (staff noted the schedule is tight and showed the team’s plan to finish in time for planned concerts in June). Staff also said a public update is scheduled about a month after the meeting (March 11) and that they will continue monthly and weekly coordination with the Bay Area Host Committee, MANCO and regional partners.

What the agreements do not do The agreements do not eliminate risk entirely: staff warned that final costs could change and that qualified-event expenses are ultimately subject to invoice review and dispute-resolution. Several council members and public speakers pressed staff to monitor federal and state grant applications and to seek any earmarked government funding that could offset the host committee’s obligations.

The council’s approval, and the stadium authority’s companion action, put the city into the operational phase of planning, authorizing permits and contracting that city staff and public-safety agencies said they would now begin to schedule and resource.