The duties of hosting a Super Bowl were passed to the Bay Area Saturday, where the big game will be hosted at Levi's Stadium.
The Super Bowl 50 committee officially was given the task Saturday, even though they began preparations about 18 months ago for the big day--Feb. 7, 2016. On that day, the football world will be centered in Santa Clara.
But Saturday at the ceremony, it was not only a passing of the torch--it was also a hand off of a ceremonial football. Super Bowl 50 is already being touted as the most philanthropic Super Bowl the world has ever seen, with 25 percent of every dollar raised going back into the Bay Area community.
49ers CEO Jed York said it is being called the San Francisco-Bay Area Super Bowl because it will be a Bay Area-wide event.
"We're going to have events...from Napa to all the way down in Monterey," York said. "Carmel, Pebble Beach-you're going to have golfing everywhere, you're going to have culinary, food, wine, obviously the technology, and...the entrepreneurial spirit of the Bay Area."
The Super Bowl 50 commission wants to hit the ground running. It plans to announce in February the names of the Bay Area organizations which will receive a total of $2.5 million. The NFL experience will include an interactive area where kids can show their football skills. That will be at Moscone Center in San Francisco. There will also be a 12-square-block area in San Francisco set aside for Super Bowl Central, where there will be live music and a number of free events for the public.
There will also be lots of events in Santa Clara at the Convention Center and Levi's Stadium leading up to the game.
Commissioner Roger Goodell, on hand for the event, was booed when he was introduced.
