Imagine Vernon Davis, Alex Smith, Patrick Willis and the 49ers strutting onto the field in February 2016 for the Golden Jubilee at the Super Bowl 50 here in Santa Clara.
With the 49ers’ 68,500-seat stadium on its way, it’s no stretch to imagine such, as a Super Bowl at the new Santa Clara stadium is not far-fetched.
Hosting a Super Bowl is a tremendous economic engine for host cities, with hotels and other travel-related businesses having seen an astronomical surge due the Super Bowl arriving at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis over the past several weeks.
According to data from TravelClick, Indianapolis experienced a vast boom in hotel occupancy, with occupancy surging nearly 400 percent from the same period in 2011.
“We feel very confident that, at a minimum, the Super Bowl will have generated $155 million in economic impact over a four day period,” said Indianapolis Convention and Visitors Association spokesman Chris Gahl. Gahl said they’re not done crunching the numbers, but the estimated impact is likely to go up, adding that the ICVA is talking to other organizations about hosting events as a result of hosting the Super Bowl.
Super Bowl Host Committee CEO Allison Melangton calls the Super Bowl a “grand slam for the city” citing great crowds through the duration of the two weeks of Super Bowl-related activities. According to Gahl, more than 10,000 people rode the downtown zip line, while another 265,000 visited the NFL Experience – a new record.
It is estimated that over the duration of Super Bowl festivities, over 600,000 people visited Super Bowl Village in Downtown Indianapolis.
Among the many festivities included live ESPN TV and radio broadcasts, live music, the NFL Experience and more. In addition to the swell of fans, the festivities attracted celebrities such as John Mellencamp, Alec Baldwin, Leonardo DiCaprio, Jimmy Fallon, and Lenny Kravitz, as well as a plethora of current and former NFL stars.
The NFL indicates an average economic impact of the Super Bowl on a host city ranges from $150-$400 million and is contingent on many factors.
With 7 million people in the Bay Area and average temperatures above 50 degrees in February, plus California’s Great America, the award-winning Santa Clara Convention Center, several luxury hotels and restaurants, Santa Clara has the infrastructure and attractions to host an amazing Super Bowl experience. Game On!