The Super Bowl returns to Bay Area; The 49ers will host in 2026 at Levi’s Stadium

SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — The Super Bowl will return to the Bay Area in 2026 at the home of the San Francisco 49ers, following an approval vote from NFL owners Monday at their Spring Meetings .

This will be the third time for the big game in the Bay Area. Levi’s Stadium, which opened in Santa Clara in 2014, also hosted Super Bowl 50 when Denver beat Carolina. The 49ers won Super Bowl 19 at Stanford Stadium in Palo Alto when they beat Miami after the 1984 season. The 2026 game will be Super Bowl 60.

Niners team president Al Guido said he hopes the NFL’s decision to return to the Bay Area 10 years after the last Super Bowl is a sign the region will be part of the rotation regular with other Western cities like Los Angeles and Las Vegas. .

“We needed a facility that had the size and scale that this one had,” Guido said. “There have been a lot of changes that have happened around the facility and in general around the bay. I think hosting it now in a competitive process 10 years after hosting the first one, while other major markets will continue to host, both SoFi Stadium, Allegiant Stadium, a lot has changed since we hosted . I believe it prepares us for future Super Bowls. We need to remove this one.

Guido said there will be changes from Super Bowl 50 with more events in San Francisco moving from downtown to the waterfront closer to where the Golden State Warriors built their new arena near the San Francisco Giants baseball stadium.

Both of these facilities will likely be used for events this time around, with the opening ceremony set to be held at the Chase Center.

The Super Bowl will be part of a bigger 2026 for the Bay Area and Levi’s Stadium, which will also host World Cup games that summer.

“(This will be) an amazing year for our region,” said Zaileen Janmohamed, president and CEO of the Bay Area Host Committee. “It’s the same year San Francisco turns 250 and it’s also the year we’ll be hosting the FIFA World Cup matches. So with the addition of hosting Super Bowl 60 , we have this amazing opportunity that really doesn’t exist anywhere else to unite the whole region with sport through multiple sporting events. I’m ready and excited.

The next Super Bowl is scheduled for February 11, 2024 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. Super Bowl 59 will be played at the Superdome in New Orleans in 2025.

The league also announced Monday that the 2025 draft will be held in Green Bay. Detroit will host the 2024 edition, after Kansas City this year.

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AP Pro Football Writer Dave Campbell in Eagan, Minnesota, contributed to this report

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