The bidding battle is on for 2016's Super Bowl number 50, and on Tuesday NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell narrowed it down to two teams: the Miami Dolphins and our own San Francisco 49ers.
San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee wasted no time supporting the news, partnering with local advertising giant Goodby Silverstein & Partners to launch Bring the Bowl to the Bay, a social media support campaign for the bid, on Thursday.
The campaign includes a social media aggregation website, a hashtag (#SFSuperBowl) and Facebook, Twitter and Google+ pages that aim to rally widespread support for the bid.
"It's a two-part thing," explained Rich Silverstein of Goodby Silverstein & Partners, who championed the campaign, to The Huffington Post. "The first goal is to get people excited about the bid and to say, 'yes, we want this.' And second is to help prepare the 49ers for the bid presentation in May."
In May, the 49ers will go before the NFL owners with a 15-minute presentation on why San Francisco should be home to the historic 50th Super Bowl. The loser of the bid will compete against Houston for the 51st Super Bowl in 2017.
"But we're hoping for that 50th," said Silverstein. Because of the historic NFL year, the event is expected to have extra pageantry and significance.
"We're in such a unique area," he continued. "From what I understand, the stadium will be the most sophisticated ever built, and we're in the technology epicenter of the world. This is an opportunity for the most high-tech Super Bowl yet."
Though the game wouldn't be held in city limits with a successful San Francisco bid (but rather in Santa Clara at the new stadium) Mayor Lee was equally enthusiastic about the possibility.
"I'm not one to sit and mope about what we lost," said Lee about San Francisco losing last year's new stadium bid to Santa Clara. "The whole region is going to benefit."
Meanwhile at the 49ers, CEO Jed York celebrated the bid.
"We're excited to bid for the first Super Bowl in the Bay Area since January of 1985," he said in a statement.
(Fun side note: In 1985, the 49ers hosted none other than their current bidding buddies the Miami Dolphins, beating them 38 to 16. "It would be nice to recreate that feeling," said York, adding insult to injury.)
York was a leader in the move to Santa Clara, largely spearheading the $1.2 billion new stadium project, but has been careful to honor the team's tie to San Francisco.
"I realize this is a bittersweet day for a lot of people," he said at the groundbreaking ceremony in April. "I want to make this clear: We are the San Francisco 49ers, and we will always be the San Francisco 49ers."
"Nothing brings a region together like a Super Bowl," York said in a statement after the bid announcement. "Now we have to work together to show the new stadium in Santa Clara will put on a great show."
Check out photos of the unbelievable new stadium plans in the slideshow below:
