Originally published at: http://boingboing.net/2016/01/30/san-francisco-super-bowl-croo.html
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I understand that SF is spending a lot on Super Bowl “events”, but the Super Bowl isn’t being held in SF.
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It’s true the general alignment and collaboration by community leaders across the country with the NFL is a useful frame for the issue.
The list of problems also includes core NFL issues of wrongly aligning children’s and college sports programs with the NFL despite increased risks of gender violence and traumatic brain injury from commercial football.
I’m not a fan of football, or 99% of sports in general, but what is the rate of return for the city hosting say an art fair or a concert or a carnival?
The city I live in does all of that and more but I’m pretty sure they are all money losers. Footsieball probably costs a hell of a lot more but then it may well be enjoyed by more people than other events a city may sponsor.
True. It’s actually being held in Santa Clara, which is 40 miles away. Are we hearing anything about this type of activity in Santa Clara? Are legions of protesters going to show up in SF, only to be tremendously confused?
Nope, all the week long pre-game bullshit is happening in SF itself, nothing in Santa Clara or San Jose. Both Santa Clara the city and Santa Clara county are getting the raw end of this deal (well, everyone is because the NFL will just pillage an area for all it’s worth and then just leave it to clean up the mess it leaves.
This is the minimum the NFL will demand from a city:
Most of that is at no cost to the NFL. Pretty rotten deal if you ask me; all for what, a small blip in tourist dollars? Fucking hell. And not only that, a majority of the tourist dollars are staying in SF proper, screwing over the entire peninsula which is getting fuck all except traffic and a right mess to clean up.
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The cities and counties can at least charge fees and taxes to those events, the NFL sets up itself all sorts of contracts for sweetheart deals; I have no fucking clue why municipalities go for it. For example Levi’s stadium basically can’t charge the NFL for using the stadium while the NFL really didn’t pay very much for the stadium. In addition to that the taxpayers of SF and SCC are both picking up the tab for all the shit the NFL refuses to pay for. It’s an insane shitshow.
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The major difference between this and an art fair is that this is essentially just a promotion for a for-profit event (with tickets currently at $3k-$15k) by a private entity, whereas public money spent for art fairs, etc. is for the purpose of making art more accessible to people. So while there may (or may not) be any benefit to local businesses in general (and thus to the tax revenue for the areas), the core function of the efforts is very different.
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It’s worth noting that while Santa Clara has agreed to waive hotel taxes and all that stuff as a condition of getting the Super Bowl–no one could seriously argue the city and county taxpayers aren’t getting screwed there–the city insisted on the bid committee itself (i.e., not the taxpayers) paying for the actual cost outlays associated with hosting the Super Bowl. The Bid Committee will be required to reimburse the city something like $4-5 million for police overtime and associated costs.
San Francisco, on the other hand, didn’t make that kind of deal to host the “associated events” of the Super Bowl. So they’re screwing over the homeless, installing a surveillance state, and paying for the pleasure.
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I probably played too much Sim City, because paying out for sporting events and stadiums seems like a normal thing to me.
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People traveling to San Francisco for the Super Bowl might be disappointed to discover that the game takes place 30 miles to the South, in another county…
So, basically it’s like a shittier version of the Olympics.
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It’s not like Bay Area fans have anything to be excited about, this year, too…I predict that the Super Bowl-associated events are a bust.
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I believe that a spectacle based around violence and greed will take advantage of the weakest. I see that is the way it is right now.
The moment in Django Unchained when Leo Dicaprio’s character is revealed … sitting in that chair watching those two slaves beat each other to near death then to death for one … that is all that I can think of when I see the TV game cameras cut to the owners of the teams … sitting there just like Leo’s character did … bored until the violence overtakes their desire to seem civilized.
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Pounded by El Niño? Mmm. Rainfall in San Francisco is actually only slightly above average. El Niño is largely affecting areas south of San Francisco. And the homeless have been camping out in tents since before the rainy season started.
“It’s a universal, dismal truism that all major sports events are ripoffs that transfer money from cities to the pockets of corrupt sporting leagues and bodies”
HEY MAN! Not the World Series! MLB postseason has come to San Francisco 3 out of the last 6 years and the only cost to the city and taxpayers is when… citizens and taxpayers trash public and private property!
Professional sportsball events are a blight on urban America.
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Of course this is an oversimplified question and will probably get oversimplified answers but does anybody have any answers on how to improve the homeless situation. Yeah I know google it, but I have great faith in the Boing Boing community.
BTW…
I live six blocks away from Levi stadium (the Superbowl stadium)
I’ll take pics and whatnot. I am basically at ground zero for the actual event. I have no original insight into the social issues, but my phone and camera will remain charged and in use.
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I have to say, if I were a 49ers fan (which I most definitely am not) and actually from SF, I would be pissed that my team’s stadium was actually in SJ. That’s taking the piss.
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