SAN FRANCISCO — Those responsible for putting on Sunday’s game between the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots at Levi’s Stadium might want to take an extra moment to soak in the pageantry.
Because it should probably be the last Super Bowl the Bay Area hosts.
It’s just not the right fit.
This has nothing at all to do with San Francisco, which remains an amazing city. While there are a great deal of homeless people and an obvious opioid issue, tales that the area has turned into a dystopian battlefield proved utterly hyperbolic.
And sure, it’s expensive. But what big city isn’t?
No, this is more about the sprawling footprint the Super Bowl has when it takes place in the Bay Area.
If there was a stadium in San Francisco, like say perhaps somewhere near Candlestick Point, there would be no issue.
But the 49ers now play in Santa Clara, a stadium that is 43 miles from the site of the media center and NFL Fan Experience.
In a region notorious for some of the worst traffic in the nation.
It’s an absolute nightmare for coverage as the media is spending more time on shuttles than conducting interviews or producing content.
But while that’s probably not great for a league that has turned this game into a 24-hour-a-day spectacle, that can’t be ideal.
But that part really doesn’t matter. The media can be inconvenienced. Nobody cares and it certainly wouldn’t be any reason to write a whiny column about it.
But then it was pointed out to me by a fan of why it actually does matter to them.
There’s something special about attending a Super Bowl and knowing that while you are enjoying the football industrial complex of fan events that the players and coaches getting set to do battle are in the same place. You might run into the team getting off the bus at the hotel or on their way to practice. You might see a coach grabbing coffee in the morning.
It probably won’t happen, but that feeling of everyone converging in one place is just one of many things that make the week unique.
In the end, the NFL does a tremendous job putting on events and the logistical challenges were largely mitigated. But they were working under constraints they don’t have to deal with in more ideal host cities.
And there was a bit of a buzz missing with things so spread out.
One team in San Jose, another in Santa Clara. Opening Night for fans in San Jose with the experience and Pro Bowl back in San Francisco.
It’s a stark contrast to how ideal the last two years had been in Las Vegas and New Orleans, where just about everything was walkable. Even when it was here and teams were staying far from the Strip, they were in town each day for practices and appearances.
Las Vegas should be getting another one very soon. New Orleans deserves it, as well.
Nashville will soon be in the mix for a Super Bowl and that will be as ideal a host city as anywhere. Atlanta is also great.
But it’s time to start limiting the rotation.
And maybe adding Indianapolis back to the mix for being an almost ideal event town for its walkability and hospitality.
Again, this felt like a topic to avoid because it can easily come across as whining.
But it really is more about the fan experience.
Plus, there was just so much time in traffic on shuttles to get cranky.
Read more on Las Vegas Review-Journal
