Bay Area To Host 2016 Super Bowl
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) - The Bay Area bid to host the 2016 Super Bowl was approved Tuesday at a meeting of 32 National Football League team owners in Boston.
The 49ers were competing with the Miami Dolphins to host Super Bowl L, which will now take place at the new 49ers stadium in Santa Clara.
Santa Clara's mayor and City Council were watching live coverage of the NFL's decision in City Council chambers at City Hall, where the crowed erupted in celebration after Commissioner Roger Goodell announced the decision just before noon.
"Everyone's excited," Beerman said.
A jubilant Santa Clara Mayor Jamie Matthews said, "Before we built a stadium, we landed the 50th Super Bowl."
The 49ers are planning to move from Candlestick Park to the new 68,500-seat stadium in Santa Clara in 2014.
Matthews said that when he heard the game would be played in his city, "a shot of electricity came through me."
He said it is estimated that a Super Bowl brings between $300 and $500 million in economic benefits to the surrounding region.
"I was not building a stadium, I was building an ATM machine," Matthews said of efforts to push the project forward.
Accompanied by his wife Julie, Matthews said he was exhausted from the emotional "roller coaster" involved in the Super Bowl bid, and that he was heading home to take a nap.
He thanked San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee for his efforts in the process.
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San Francisco city officials were also anxiously awaiting the decision.
"We're on the five-yard line and ready to go," Mayor Ed Lee said Monday.
Lee learned the Super Bowl news during a ceremony Tuesday morning to honor the Golden State Warriors and point guard Stephen Curry for their NBA playoff run. The announcement drew cheers from the crowd at City Hall.
Jed York, the 49ers' CEO, gave his team's 15-minute presentation and representatives of the Miami organization delivered theirs at the Boston meeting.
York said at a noon news conference in Boston, "There's a lot of things that were going in our favor. I think it was the overwhelming support from the community that made the difference."
"After losing a Super Bowl (to Baltimore), it feels really good to win a Super Bowl," York cracked. "We are so excited to be able to be able to put on the `Golden Super Bowl' in the Golden State."
York suggested that San Francisco's winning bid offered a lesson in politics.
"If this Super Bowl can show the state of California and other communities the opportunity with a new stadium to bring in fresh business, it could be a catalyst that stadiums can be built for Oakland and San Diego, which are in need of new ones," he said. "This may be the impetus to get one of those done."
For years, it was thought the NFL would seek to stage the 50th Super Bowl in Los Angeles, where the first one was played (but did not sell out) on Jan. 15, 1967. But with no franchise in LA and no suitable stadium projects approved, that hope disappeared.
With Santa Clara's $1.2 billion Levi Stadium selected to host the contest, the next step is to listen to what the NFL wants the city and the 49ers to do to prepare for the big game.
"Based on any recommendations the NFL has, we start almost the next day," Beerman said.
"We only have I think, 33 months, so we have to get going starting tomorrow. We're going to put a team in place, a staff in place and we're going to deliver the Bowl to the Bay," said Bay Area Super Bowl Committee Chairman Daniel Lurie.
Bay Area Super Bowl Committee Chairman Daniel Lurie Reacts To Successful Super Bowl Bid
"We've been talking to Indianapolis. We've been talking to folks in New Orleans. The South Florida Bid Committee was gracious today. They offered their support. It's a pretty fun club to now be a part of," Laurie continued.
Now that the Bay Area's bid has been accepted, what does it mean for football fans and non-football fans that live here?
"A game as big as Super Bowl L has the ability to lift up our entire community. 25 percent of every dollar we raise is going to back into our community to improve the lives of those living in poverty. We plan on making this a world-class party and also make it the most philanthropic Super Bowl the NFL has ever seen," he said.
Super Bowl L will be broadcast on KPIX 5. The only previous Super Bowl played in Northern California was at Stanford Stadium in 1985.
It was also announced Tuesday morning that Houston will host the Super Bowl in 2017.
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