New Orleans has handed Super Bowl hosting duties to the San Francisco Bay Area. Santa Clara and Levi's Stadium will host Super Bowl 60 next February. So, what lessons did Bay Area leaders learn while in New Orleans and use to help them successfully host the Big Game?
Bay Area Host Committee CEO Zaileen Janmohamed says the Bay Area must tap into its charm in the same way New Orleans did.
"The narrative about New Orleans's charm and hospitality is absolutely true," Janmohamed said, noting that she experienced that charm and hospitality every time she spoke to someone from the Crescent City. "I think the Bay Area does have that. I think the people and the diversity of the people allow for that. "It's something that you have to be mindful of. There are hundred of thousands of people that are going to come into your town, and how you treat them is something they are going to remember. That's going to be a really big takeaway for me."
Janmohamed says her team also took away lessons about how to keep visitors to the Bay Area safe during the Super Bowl.
"All of the police officers that will be part of Super Bowl 60 are here already and will be training with the New Orleans Police," Janmohamed said. "The working group that has to come together has already come together and (is) starting to understand whose responsibility will it be for the pregame week, for game, and what those details will entail."
Janmohamed also says she spent time learning about community events that can bring the Super Bowl experience to everyone in her region.
"In the Bay, we have nine counties," Janmohamed said. "So it's not just San Francisco. It's Santa Clara and San Jose and Oakland and how to make sure that we can actually bring football out into the communities and vice versa. That's a learning we have. A lot of residents from the Bay Area won't have a ticket to the game. They want to be part of the event in some way, shape, or form, and that's something we're working through."
