Council and Stadium Authority receive Super Bowl 60 update; staff to negotiate league event agreement

City staff provided an informational update on Super Bowl 60 planning and preparations, covering public safety, emergency management, convention center readiness, destination marketing and outstanding agreement negotiations. The Santa Clara City Council and the Santa Clara Stadium Authority noted the report and directed staff to continue negotiations; the board voted to note and file the presentation.

Public safety and planning: Santa Clara Police Captain Richard Fitting, the city’s lead public‑safety planner for stadium events, summarized planning work that includes multiagency coordination, tabletop exercises, specialized training and participation in the Visiting Public Safety Officials (VPSO) program. "The VPSO program is truly no greater readiness exposure than planning and implementation of those plans and to be on‑site to see it," Fitting said, describing a February visit to New Orleans to observe Super Bowl 59 operations.

The city’s fire and emergency management leads reported parallel planning. Battalion Chief Matt Queen said the Fire Department reviewed lessons learned from the prior Super Bowl, has convened subcommittees for EMS, hazardous materials and prevention, and is estimating deployment and equipment needs. Emergency Services Manager David Flam described the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) role for consequence management and said the city is coordinating county, state and federal partners to ensure planning addresses both stadium‑area activity and city‑wide impacts.

Convention center and marketing: Assistant City Manager Chuck Baker outlined upgrades at the Santa Clara Convention Center, including new digital signage, replaced Grand Ballroom air walls and refreshed restrooms. The city’s destination marketing organization (Discover Santa Clara) has launched a redesigned website and marketing campaign to promote hotels, visitor information and local businesses during major events.

Agreements and finances: City staff described three categories of agreements and reimbursements under negotiation: (1) interim and pre‑agreement reimbursements to cover initial planning and training costs; (2) a League Event Agreement the city is negotiating with the Bay Area Host Committee to define event scope, cost allocation and reimbursement procedures; and (3) the assignment/assumption structure that will allocate responsibilities for public safety and event operations. Staff said the League Event Agreement is intended to make the host committee the primary payer for major event public safety and operations costs, with a financial guarantee from Statco/TeamCo or other 49ers entities where appropriate. Staff said an interim funding agreement covers pre‑agreement costs through May 31 and the goal is to finalize a League Event Agreement prior to that date.

Public comment and host committee: The Bay Area Host Committee’s executive director reported fundraising progress and said sponsorship commitments are ahead of schedule. Residents and community members asked about traffic, neighborhood notifications and the city’s plan to protect residents living nearest Levi’s Stadium.

Action and next steps: The Stadium Authority board and City Council voted to note and file the informational report. Staff said they will continue negotiations on the League Event Agreement, continue multiagency public‑safety planning and schedule community outreach when the operations footprint and hard‑perimeter details are finalized.

Key numbers and clarifications: staff reported an initial public‑safety cost estimate for Super Bowl planning at roughly $6.4 million (staff emphasized figures are estimates and subject to change during negotiations). The city also disclosed prior pre‑agreement activity and said outstanding pre‑agreement costs from prior months remain under negotiation for reimbursement.