Now that Super Bowl 50 is over, we should take stock of the experience. Decisions made by business and political leaders who played a role in hosting the event can be improved because San Francisco will face the same challenges in the future.
From the beginning of the campaign, Super Bowl 50 was touted for its "diversity." The National Lesbian and Gay Chamber of Commerce breathlessly promoted its successful negotiations with the National Football League to open up contracting to qualified LGBT-owned businesses as a sign that the NFL was being inclusive in its contracting process. Chamber-certified businesses were qualified to bid on various contracts. In the end, only a handful of gay business owners received contracts.
If the Bay Area is to host a Super Bowl again �" and the chances seem good if they can ever figure out how to install a durable turf field at Levi's Stadium �" several things need to be reimagined to avoid some of these mistakes.
Keep F-Line running
It's often said one truly appreciates something after it's gone. That was certainly true for the San Francisco Bay Area Super Bowl 50 Host Committee's disastrous decision to halt the F-Line streetcar from the Embarcadero, site of the free Super Bowl City fan village, to the Castro. Replacing the historic streetcars with buses likely kept thousands of people from visiting the Castro, and negatively affected businesses. Anecdotal evidence points to emptier shops last week, despite the 1.1 million people who were in town visiting Super Bowl City and the NFL Experience at Moscone Center. Paul Rose, spokesman for the Metropolitan Transportation Agency, said in an email that the F-Line is still not running four days after the closure of Super Bowl City because the Market Street, Stueart Street, Don Chee Way, and the Embarcadero aren't yet open. Additionally, he explained that there is "possible work on Saturday to remove the Verizon sign that will require the F-Line to be closed that day." (The F-Line is supposed to start running again on Valentine's Day, according to transit officials.)
The fan village should have been designed so that it did not impede public transit. The host committee had nine days to promote San Francisco, yet access to one of the most famous neighborhoods was largely diminished. Tourists love taking the colorful streetcars, but they were taken out of commission when they would have been attractive assets.
The host committee wouldn't dream of stopping the cable cars. It's time that city officials and others realize that the F-Line is just as beloved �" and provides a crucial link to the gayborhood.
Promoting the Castro
As part of MTA's plan to replace streetcars with bus shuttles shortly before Super Bowl City opened, banners were installed in the downtown Muni/BART stations informing passengers that they could take several Muni Metro lines to the Castro. The banners were humorous, reading. "Why just stare at sea lions when you can pet actual bears. The Friendly Castro." But they were too little, too late, and they were hard to read if you were rushing into or out of the stations. In retrospect, perhaps the Fisherman's Wharf Community Benefit District could have joined the Castro Merchants in a promotional campaign and generated publicity from the thousands of journalists in town, drawing people to both destinations.
Fair reimbursement
The greatest mistake was the bone-headed decision by city officials not to seek reimbursement from the NFL for all the costs associated with hosting the Super Bowl events. When this was revealed in a scathing report by the city budget analyst in mid-January, some supervisors, including Jane Kim, who's now running for state Senate, tried to draft emergency legislation to seek reimbursement of nearly $5 million that the city is shelling out for security and other costs. But Kim's move rang hollow after it was revealed that in 2012 she voted to support hosting the Super Bowl.
Mayor Ed Lee and other officials tried to spin the analyst's report, noting that the city would see a bump in hotel tax revenue. But at a time when the mayor is requesting that city departments find ways to save money, it's ridiculous that San Francisco leaders never thought to seek reimbursement from the NFL, which has a budget of about $10 billion. Meanwhile, in Santa Clara, where the game was actually played, officials sought and will receive reimbursement from the NFL. It's a costly lesson that we hope the supervisors learn if the city ever bids again for a Super Bowl or some large sporting event.
In the future, any host committee needs to reach out to all segments of the city's residents, including LGBTs, and include our community from the beginning planning stages. We can do better than hanging a few banners and granting a few contracts to gay businesses the next time.