When the NFL announced in 2023 that Super Bowl LX would be held at Levi’s Stadium, South Bay leaders were excited, but wary.
They felt that host city Santa Clara and nearby San Jose had been cut mostly out of the fanfare of the last Super Bowl there a decade ago, with San Francisco sucking up most of the headline events — and the tourism dollars. They expressed hope that 2026 would be different.
It won’t be.
At least not judging from the official schedule of events released by the NFL on Monday, which once again centers the Super Bowl pageantry in San Francisco. San Jose will host the same lone event it did in 2016, the Feb. 2 kickoff of festivities.
Even so, the NFL and Host Committee officials hope the rest of the region will get to share in the limelight of what they’ve dubbed a “Bay Area Super Bowl.”
From the beginning, the goal has been to unite the Bay Area through sport, Zaileen Janmohamed, the president and CEO of the Bay Area Host Committee, said at a Monday morning press conference announcing a slate of events around the Super Bowl.
“These nine counties behave very differently and when a Super Bowl or an event comes in sometimes an individual region or a city will feel like this is theirs versus another,” she said. “Our job is actually to make the Super Bowl feel like it’s everyone’s.”
Super Bowl LX will be played at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara on Feb. 8, 2026, with a week of festivities kicking off on Feb. 2. The stadium previously hosted Super Bowl 50 in 2016.
In the aftermath, South Bay officials largely felt snubbed by the NFL as most of the events surrounding the Big Game took place in San Francisco. A study conducted after the event found that the Super Bowl had a $240 million economic impact on the Bay Area, with more than 57% of the revenues benefiting San Francisco. San Jose saw 12.3% of the economic pie, while Santa Clara — home of Levi’s Stadium — got a mere 7.2%.
But this time, Peter O’Reilly, the NFL’s executive vice president for club business, international and league events, said that they’re “committed to creating an unforgettable experience” for both residents and visitors alike.
“We’ve had 50 with these guys, we’ve got 60 and a huge opportunity to do something really special together in Northern California in one of the most vibrant, forward thinking, innovative parts of the world,” he said.
The spectacle will kick off in San Jose like it did a decade ago for Super Bowl 50, in what O’Reilly referred to as a “tone setter” for the week. On Feb. 2 at the San Jose McEnery Convention Center, fans will have the opportunity to hear from players and coaches either from the AFC or the NFC champions.
Janmohamed said that holding the kickoff event in San Jose was one of the first things they asked the NFL to consider.
“In our reference points of how we even talk about the Super Bowl is we talk about it being a Bay Area Super Bowl,” she said. “So, it’s important that the events reflect that where possible.”
San Jose has already launched its own “Fly, Stay and Play” campaign, encouraging visitors to take advantage of all the nation’s 12th largest city has to offer.
“When you touch down at San Jose Mineta International Airport, you’ll be just ten minutes from Levi’s Stadium and the NFL’s Opening Night,” San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan said in a news release about the announcement. “We’re also organizing world-class concerts, drone shows and culinary experiences walking distance from downtown so residents and visitors alike have an unforgettable Super Bowl experience right here in San Jose.”
But outside of opening night, fans will likely flock to San Francisco to get a taste of the Super Bowl.
The Super Bowl Experience will return to downtown San Francisco’s Moscone Center and will run from Feb. 3 to Feb. 7. O’Reilly called the spectacular an “NFL theme park” where fans can see the Vince Lombardi Trophy and all 59 Super Bowl rings on display and run the 40-yard dash against virtual NFL players. Kids 12 and under are free and tickets will go on sale Dec. 10.
This year, the NFL decided to move the annual Pro Bowl Games to the Super Bowl host city — or in this case, region. The Moscone Center will host this year’s AFC vs. NFC flag football game on Feb. 3, with coverage kicking off at 3:30 p.m. and the game starting at 5 p.m.
Another first for this year is the NFL “Culture Club,” which will be held at The Pearl in San Francisco Feb. 4 through Feb. 7.
“This at its core is really a creative space,” O’Reilly said, noting that it brings together sports, art, music, fashion, gaming and community from across the Bay Area.
The NFL will release the schedule at a later date, but events are expected to include athlete panels, curated art installations and late-night listening sessions.
Super Bowl LX will also mark the first-ever Innovation Summit, which will be held at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art on Feb. 6. Acquired podcast hosts Ben Gilbert and David Rosenthal are set to make an appearance.
The Bay Area Host Committee is putting on its own slate of programming including its own Bay Area-focused fan experience at Yerba Buena Gardens from Feb. 3 through Feb. 7 and a concert series at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium from Feb. 5 and Feb. 7.
Janmohamed promises, though, that there is more to come for the rest of the Bay Area.
“We have a few more places and events that we will be announcing sooner rather than later to make sure that the entirety of the Bay is being highlighted and leveraged in the ways we know that we can,” she said. “We’ll make sure that we spend a lot of time looking at community and legacy impact.”
The Official Super Bowl LX Event Lineup:
Super Bowl Media Center at the Moscone Center West Building — Monday, Feb. 2 to Monday, Feb. 9, 2026
Super Bowl Opening Night Fueled by Gatorade at San Jose Convention Center — Monday, Feb. 2, 2026
Pro Bowl Games Powered by Verizon at Moscone Center South Building — Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026
Super Bowl Experience Presented by Jersey Mike’s at Moscone Center North and South Buildings — Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026 to Saturday, Feb. 7
BAHC Live! San Francisco Fan Zone at Yerba Buena Gardens and YBCA Forum — Tuesday, Feb. 3 to Saturday, Feb.7, 2026
NFL Culture Club at The Pearl — Wednesday, Feb. 4 to Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026
NFL Honors Presented by Invisalign at Palace of Fine Arts –Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026
BAHC Live! Concert Series at Bill Graham Civic Auditorium –Thursday, Feb. 5 to Saturday Feb. 7, 2026
BAHC Super Bowl LX Innovation Summit Presented by YouTube at SFMOMA — Friday, Feb. 6, 2026
On Location’s Super Bowl LX Studio 60 Concert Series at the Palace of Fine Arts — Friday, Feb. 6 to Saturday, Feb. 7
Super Bowl Breakfast at Marriott Marquis — Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026
Taste of the NFL at The Hibernia — Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026
NFL Super Bowl LX Flag Football Game on YouTube at Moscone Center South Building — Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026
Super Bowl LX at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara — Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026