SAN JOSE >> A South Bay business leader hopes to draw up a game plan to ensure San Jose can score plenty of economic benefits from upcoming sports mega-events coming to the region.

The Super Bowl, several World Cup matches and a round of the men’s college basketball tournament are all slated to be held in the area in 2026.

To take full advantage of the events, the Bay Area’s largest city will have to shift gears on how it views major sports occurrences as part of a large economic tapestry rather than as individual strands, San Jose Chamber of Commerce President Leah Toeniskoetter said.

“We have to start to think of sports and entertainment as an economy, rather than here is one event, here is another, and then another,” Toeniskoetter said in an interview with this news organization.

Much of the work is already underway. To coincide with those efforts, the San Jose Chamber of Commerce held its annual Leaders and Legacy membership dinner Thursday at the Marriott Downtown San Jose to kick off discussions about the city’s quest for winning economic strategies.

The chamber’s event includes a discussion panel moderated by San Jose State University President Cynthia Teniente-Matson. Other panelists expected to attend include Bay FC CEO Brady Stewart, San Jose Earthquakes President Jared Shawlee, San Jose Sharks President Jonathan Becher, and San Francisco 49ers Executive Vice President of Marketing Stephanie Dittmer Rogers.

San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan was also scheduled to speak.

“As we gear up for major sporting milestones in 2026, including Super Bowl LX, the NCAA men’s basketball tournament and the FIFA World Cup, we’ll explore the opportunities these events create for local businesses and our broader community,” the San Jose Chamber of Commerce said.

Levi’s Stadium is slated to host the Super Bowl and the FIFA World Cup, and the SAP Center in downtown San Jose will host March Madness college basketball games.

“These are three phenomenal events, potentially generating half a billion dollars of economic impact for Santa Clara County,” Toeniskoetter said.

As the events approach, San Jose will need to address existing challenges.

For example, San Jose’s convention center is too small to host major meetings such as those tied to a gigantic event such as the Super Bowl. Plus the South Bay city lacks sufficient hotel rooms for many huge events.

“We still miss out to San Francisco because the NFL Super Bowl experience requires a certain amount of square footage that we cannot offer at the San Jose Convention Center,” Toeniskoetter said.

The hotel disparity is particularly stark.

“San Francisco also has 30,000 luxury hotel rooms and we have 4,500,” Toeniskoetter said. “The leaders of all the NFL teams have very high-level requirements for hotel rooms. We can’t offer that.”

The NCAA men’s basketball tournament at the SAP Center will “directly benefit” San Jose, Toeniskoetter noted, and the World Cup matches will be just as crucial.

“To have six World Cup games is a huge win for the South Bay,” Toeniskoetter said. “That could bring in $300 million by itself.

“We want to show all 108 matches in San Jose in some way, shape or form. We can shut down a street and have game watches for every event. That level of coordination is a real opportunity to show off downtown San Jose for such an amazing event.”

The planning for these events could kick off major long-term changes in San Jose’s ability to use sports as a way to bolster the local economy, she said.

“We have to make larger investments so our area is even more attractive to these national and international sports events,” Toeniskoetter said. “We need to create literal entertainment districts around the arenas and stadiums in the area.”