49ers home major spiff-up for showpiece events

Article posted by Coliseum, September 3^rd, 2024

Image: Levi's Stadium, Matthew Roth, CC BY-SA 2.0

The National Football League (NFL) team San Francisco 49ers are preparing their home ground – the Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California (US) – for two major sporting events in the near future.

‘nbcsportsbayarea.com’ stated that San Francisco is investing $200 million into upgrades for the venue ahead of Super Bowl LX and the 2026 FIFA World Cup™, both events the Levi’s Stadium will host in the same year.

The San Francisco 49ers are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area (US). The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league’s National Football Conference West division.

The 68,500-capacity Levi’s Stadium is an American football stadium located in Santa Clara, California (US) just West of the much larger City of San Jose in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is the home venue for the National Football League’s (NFL’s) San Francisco 49ers since 2014.

New York (US)-based the National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams divided equally between the American Football Conference and the National Football Conference.

The Super Bowl is the annual league championship game of the National Football League (NFL) of the United States. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966 replacing the NFL Championship Game. Since 2022, the game has been played on the second Sunday in the month of February.

The Super Bowl LX is the planned American football championship game of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2025 season. The game is scheduled to be played on February 8^th, 2026, at the Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California (US).

The 2026 FIFA World Cup™, marketed as the FIFA World Cup 26™, will be the 23^rd FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international men’s soccer championship contested by the national teams of the member associations of FIFA. The tournament will take place from June 11^th to July 19^th, 2026. It will be jointly hosted by 16 Cities in three North American countries: Canada, Mexico and the United States. The tournament will be the first hosted by three nations and the first North American World Cup since 1994. Argentina is the defending champion.

‘nbcsportsbayarea.com’ further stated that perhaps most notably will be upgrades to the videoboards around the stadium with new state-of-the-art displays being installed that will give the Levi’s Stadium “the largest 4K display in the league” as well as upgrades to another 13,000 square feet of light-emitting diode (LED) screens.

The Levi’s Stadium also will install a new LED field lighting system to “brighten the playing surface for primetime night games while conserving energy”.

Informed Francine Melendez Hughes, Executive Vice-President and General Manager, Stadium Operations, Levi’s Stadium, “After executing a packed non-NFL events schedule including five soccer matches and three concerts, our stadium operations team has turned the page to football. We have been hard at work renovating and upgrading parts of the stadium for the fans, but the work isn’t done yet. Some of our biggest projects are still to come. We are excited to continue innovating to give the fans one of the best viewing experiences in the NFL.”

The venue also upgraded to a Cisco Wi-Fi 6 infrastructure (the sixth generation of Wi-Fi that offers a number of benefits over previous Wi-Fi standards) that features 1,300 access points that provide high-speed Internet in every location as well as upgrades to its wireless network connectivity with a new 5G Distributed Antenna System (DAS – a network that distributes 5G signals to improve coverage and data transmission in a specific area, such as a building) that “will ensure fans have the best connectivity of any building in the NFL”.

The Cisco Systems, Inc. is an American multinational digital communications technology conglomerate corporation headquartered in San Jose, California (US). Cisco develops, manufactures and sells networking hardware, software, telecommunications equipment, and other high-technology services and products.

On the main concourse, the Levi’s Stadium will have “frictionless concession stands” that will provide alternative, cashierless ways for the fans to purchase basic food and beverages (F&Bs).

There also will be upgrades to the numerous stadium and club sections, including two new open-air patio bars in the Graton Winners Club and remodels to over 120 luxury suites.

Continue to follow Coliseum for latest updates on venues business news. Coliseum is dedicated towards building the best global community of sports and entertainment venue executives and professionals creating better and more profitable venues.

Become a member of the only Global Sports Venue Alliance and connect with stadiums, arenas and experts from around the world. Apply for membership at coliseum-online.com/alliance and make use of the 365Coliseum Business.

Watch 380 member-exclusive videos with valuable tips for your venue