Goodell visits San Francisco to kick off countdown to Super Bowl 60

SAN FRANCISCO – Super Bowl LX is still five months away and 45 miles south of here, but NFL commissioner Roger Goodell is in town for its official launch.

Friday, that meant raising a commemorative flag at City Hall and later announcing the Super Bowl’s first-ever Innovation Summit will take place at San Francisco’s Museum of Modern Art on Feb. 6, two days before Levi’s Stadium hosts its second Super Bowl.

“We’re using our game to unite the country and the world. I think we could all use a little bit of that,” Goodell said to a private audience of 100 inside SFMOMA’s theater. “The Super Bowl will be here to shine the light on the wonderful things happening here in the Bay Area.”

Goodell participated in a brief panel with 49ers owner Jed York, San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie and Bay Area Host Committee CEO Zaileen Janmohamed. No other Super Bowl Week festivities were unveiled, although it’s no secret San Francisco will serve as the epicenter of activities, just as it did a decade ago when Super Bowl 50 was held at 2-year-old Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara.

No questions were taken from the dozen-plus reporters in attendance.

There was no official word but Super Bowl Opening Night – the Monday night media circus – is expected to be held in San Jose, host of the 2015 event. San Francisco’s Moscone Convention Center already is touting how it will host the Super Bowl Fan Experience like it did a decade ago.

“We get to show off,” Mayor Lurie said. “There is no bigger game on the planet than the Super Bowl. We’re honored to host it. We’re going to work our tails off. Our public safety officials have been working on it for months (with the Bay Area Host Committee). We’re going to show the world San Francisco is not only on the rise but the greatest city in the world.”

York commended Lurie’s efforts to rehabilitate San Francisco’s image and communities.

“When you look at where San Francisco has been in the past and where the city is going now, I couldn’t pick a better time to host the Super Bowl,” York said. “We’re very honored that our partners at the NFL selected San Francisco Bay Area to host. I’m just proud as somebody, I didn’t grow up in San Francisco, but San Francisco is near and dear to my heart. I love this city. I do think it’s the greatest city in the world. To be able to show the world what an amazing place it is, I don’t think there’s a better time to do that. That’s what I’m extremely excited for.”

Lurie noted that he’s working with fellow mayors in Oakland and San Jose for an inclusive Super Bowl, and that’s been the designed mission of the Bay Area Host Committee in a year that began with San Francisco hosting the NBA All-Star Game.

Goodell doled out compliments to San Francisco and the Bay Area: “So many people come to this community for the Super Bowl that do not have a ticket. They just want to be in this region. They want to be in San Francisco, or Oakland or San Jose or all the wonderful communities you have around. To give them an opportunity to experience the community is the greatest value.

“Economic impact is obviously huge,” Goodell continued, “but this is an opportunity for you to show off the great progress happening in this community. I feel it. I’ve been here less than 24 hours, you can feel it. You don’t just see it, you feel it, and that’s a great thing. I can’t wait for the Super Bowl to be here and share it to the world.”

As for the Innovation Summit, it will offer lesson in the next-gen products and technology, and it will be “shaped and moderated” by Ben Gilbert and David Rosenthal, hosts of the Acquired technology podcast.