Santa Clara mayor voices concern about high cost of hosting Super Bowl, World Cup
The mayor of Santa Clara held the State of the City address on Wednesday, discussing serious issues such as crime and homelessness, but also about how the city will be the home of two of the world's biggest sporting events in 2026.
With Levi's Stadium soon to take the global stage once again, it does come with a big bill. It's expected to cost the city over $6 million, mostly for security and police services for the Super Bowl in February 2026.
On Tuesday, the Santa Clara City Council voted 5-2 to approve a deal that has yet to be agreed on by the league to provide the services and be reimbursed by the Bay Area Host Committee. Mayor Lisa Gillmore and Vice Mayor Kelly Cox voted against the deal.
"In 2010, in order to bring the stadium to Santa Clara, our voters voted in Measure J, which tells us we cannot spend any money from our general fund to support the stadium," she said. "So, everything has to be reimbursed."
Gillmore said her main concern is that the city is reimbursed for every penny, but she has questions about how much the city will get and when the check will come.
"I hope I'm wrong," she said. "I hope we get paid back because I'm so excited about the events, but my first obligation is to the taxpayers and residents of Santa Clara."
"While the agreement is still in the process of being refined, the Bay Area Host Committee is once again committed to ensuring the City of Santa Clara has no risk and significant reward for the Super Bowl and World Cup," the Bay Area Host Committee said in a statement. "We look forward to hosting two fantastic events next year that will help Santa Clara and the Bay Area shine on a global stage."
During the 2016 Super Bowl, an independent study found that while the event brought $240 million to the region, only 7.2% of that total came to Santa Clara.
City Councilman Albert Gonzalez voted for the deal, saying it's better than the one 10 years ago.
"Definitely going to be beneficial to the city. To the region," Gonzalez said. "That's why a lot of entities, whether it's the hotels with the occupancy tax, we're all going to benefit one way or another."
While Santa Clara is home to Levi's Stadium, the city itself gets overshadowed by San Jose and San Francisco. Gillmor hopes more of the money stays here in the city.
"It takes a village to put this on," she said. "It's not just our city, it's all the surrounding cities that are going to have to assist and help us. But we also want to make sure a lot of the events happen in the South Bay and Santa Clara."