The folks in San Francisco hoping to bring the Super Bowl back to the Bay Area for the first time since the 1984 season didn’t get soft once the potential renovations of Sun Life Stadium fell through.
The San Francisco host committee submitted the final bid for Super Bowl L via iPads sent to all 32 owners, according to Mike Rosenberg of the San Jose Mercury News.
“I feel great about our bid to host the Super Bowl,” 49ers CEO Jed York said, via Rosenberg.
The iPads automatically played when the boxes containing them were opened, with a welcome from San Francisco mayor Ed Lee. Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt promises an “unprecedented partnership” among Silicon Valley companies that will make the game “the most innovative Super Bowl ever.”
In addition to the stuff related to the game and the events preceding it, NFL owners have been promised “tee times for golf at iconic Pebble Beach” and “a private dinner for NFL owners with local celebrity chef Thomas Keller of the renowned French Laundry.”
Those two things have no relevance to whether the Super Bowl will be successful in San Francisco, but little touches like that could possibly help provide the difference when the time comes for the owners to choose between Miami and San Francisco on May 21.
The extent to which Miami changed its final bid to compensate for the absence of upgrades to Sun Life Stadium isn’t known. While it was presumed that Miami would remain out of the Super Bowl mix absent an improved venue for the game, the owners ultimately make the decision, and it’s possible that the folks in South Florida sweetened the financial pot sufficiently to win the game.
On May 21, the owners will pick San Francisco or Miami for Super Bowl L. Then, the city that doesn’t get Super Bowl L will square off with Houston for Super Bowl LI, in the same meeting.