by Lupe Velez
Historically, the Super Bowl in the City of San Francisco has prompted city officials and local authorities to ramp up sweeps and the clearing of homeless encampments in the downtown area. Leading up to the 2016 Super Bowl—or Super Bowl 50 to sports fans—City officials stated there was no formal City policy to move people for the Super Bowl, which actually took place 45 miles away in Santa Clara and will be on this year’s gameday.
Despite these claims, the City has ratcheted their efforts to remove homeless people from public view in the runup to Super Bowl LX. Mayor Daniel Lurie has echoed the same sentiment as Ed Lee ten years earlier and has stated that sweep operations will continue as planned.
However, City officials have opened at least one shelter in response to Super Bowl activities, and community organizations in the Mission District are already noting an uptick in requests for services. Gubbio Project opened an additional 80 beds overnight with emergency funds from the City, in anticipation of Super Bowl-related law enforcement increases. This approval of funds is a tacit acknowledgement that the City will displace unhoused San Franciscans from the downtown area in time for the opening kickoff. Similarly, the Calle 24 Latino Cultural District has been receiving reports of law enforcement ordering unhoused people to stay away from downtown.
Sweeps, arrests, citations and the criminalization of homeless people has only risen in the last decade due to concerted efforts from City officials ,most notably since the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2024 Grants Pass decision. In the first six months after the ruling, Mayor London Breed increased arrests and citations for illegal lodging by 500%. Under the Lurie administration sweeps have peaked to new heights as of April of 2025. With sweeps and citations remaining at high levels and policing of homelessness on the upswing, sweeps and criminalization have become the City’s standard operating procedure in addressing this humanitarian crisis. Sadly, the Super Bowl’s impact on homeless people is not an isolated event – it simply spotlights a time in which the City ramps up its cruelty in hiding visible signs of poverty to suit the economic interests of the City’s wealthiest.
The Super Bowl’s impact on the unhoused community serves as a reminder that poor and unhoused people are penalized daily. The Coalition on Homelessness stands in solidarity with people impacted by increased policing and sweeps and urges the City to uphold compassion-driven and permanent solutions to the homelessness crisis long after the big game’s final whistle.
