2026 is set to be a big year for sports in the Bay Area. In February, Santa Clara’s Levi Stadium is slated to host the Super Bowl, which is expected to cost the city an estimated $6.3 million. Later in the year, six FIFA World Cup games are scheduled to take place at the stadium. Those games, while costly, promise to draw tens of thousands of fans to the region, with tourism dollars close behind.

Now, the Bay Area Host Committee, the local nonprofit hosting the games, is doubling down. 

Country singer Chris Stapleton is set to play the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium on Saturday, Feb. 7, the day before the Super Bowl. Songwriter Sierra Ferrell is slated to appear as a special guest. It’s the first event in a series organized by the committee, called BAHC Live, which “will present world-class concerts, fan zones, festivals, and watch parties” timed around local sporting events, according to a news release. 

The concert series will benefit Tipping Point Community, the antipoverty nonprofit founded by Mayor Daniel Lurie. (Lurie stepped down as CEO in 2019.) BAHC Live will announce more events soon. 

Stapleton, who emerged from the Nashville country scene, has enjoyed both commercial and critical success for his music, which weaves together influences from soul, country and bluegrass. The singer has won 11 Grammy awards, and in 2023, he headlined Stagecoach Festival.

Ferrell, who sharpened her craft as a longtime busker, has emerged in recent years as a fresh voice in roots music. This year, her latest effort “Trail of Flowers” won the Grammy for Best Americana Album. She played Hardly Strictly Bluegrass in 2021.

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — People rallied in San Francisco on Sunday in support of three elderly residents who are facing eviction from their rent-controlled apartments. The community protest was an opportunity to stand up for seniors on fixed incomes and tenants’ rights across the city.

Dozens of tenants’ rights advocates marched through Noe Valley in San Francisco at the front steps of a Victorian apartment house where three seniors are now facing eviction.

“If you’ve ever been displaced, you know the profound toll having your housing under threat takes on you,” said one advocate speaker.

“I’m so impressed they’re doing this for us,” said tenant Brian Harrington.

Harrington was surprised to see the protest rally out front. He said he and his two longtime roommates have health issues. One has lived there since 1977. All of them are being evicted by their landlord.

MORE: Seniors with mental illnesses to be evicted from SF General Hospital

“We’re in serious trouble, because I’m 69. I’m the youngest one. I just went through my 11th heart surgery and these guys are seven years older than me, my roommates. Where are we going to go?,” Harrington said.

Harrington says, he and his roommates have been quiet tenants and paid rent on time.

“She just wants to make triple the amount of money. It’s just that simple,” Harrington said.

Advocates from Tenant and Neighborhood Councils, which support renters, are trying to stop the evictions. The group says the situation is not unusual in a city where the cost of living can be exorbitant, especially for those on a fixed income.

MORE: Petaluma officials question legality of eviction notices sent to 71 mobile home park residents

“They’re facing eviction like many seniors in our city, honestly, at an attempt to get them out of their rent-controlled apartments, so the rent can go back to market rate,” said Eleanor Allen-Henderson from Tenant and Neighborhood Councils or TANC.

Advocates say a court hearing on the eviction is scheduled for next week in San Francisco.

A person who tenants identified as the owner of their building had no comment. ABC7 News also reached out to the landlord’s attorneys but have not heard back.

Advocates say they’ll to continue protest the eviction of the seniors.

“Seniors deserve to stay in their homes. We believe in a city where people are housed and safe,” Allen-Henderson said.

Nearly seven million attended No Kings protests in 2,700 cities, towns

On Saturday, Oct. 18, approximately 50,000 people joined the No Kings Day of Defiance march and rally in downtown San Francisco, jointly organized by Indivisible San Francisco, 50501SF, and National Nurses United. The peaceful mobilization was one of 2,700 events taking place around the Bay Area, across all 50 states and Washington, D.C., and around the globe.  

With Trump and congressional Republicans doubling down on their agenda of gutting Medicaid and essential services, and wreaking havoc with a government shutdown of their making, everyday Americans delivered a powerful rebuke of their governance: “This country belongs to us, the people, and in America, we don’t do kings.” The event represented the largest single day of action since Donald Trump was sworn in for a second term.

Speakers at the Civic Center Plaza rally, which followed a march from Embarcadero, included representatives from National Nurses United (NNU) – the nation’s largest union of registered nurses – Indivisible SF, 50501SF, Arab Resources Organizing Center (AROC), California Labor Federation AFL-CIO, and ACLU Northern California. Notable Bay Area civil rights activists Angela Davis, Cleve Jones, and Honey Mahogany also spoke following an opening performance by renowned Bay Area folk musician Joan Baez. 

SAN FRANCISCO MARCH AND RALLY PHOTOS AND VIDEOS:

(credit: Dan Dunn for the aerial footage above) 

CIVIC CENTER PLAZA RALLY SPEAKER LIST:

• Cathy Kennedy (President, National Nurses United)
• Puneet Maharaj (Executive Director, National Nurses United)
• Arthur Wolf (Indivisible SF/50501)
• Lorena Gonzalez-Fletcher (President, California Labor Federation AFL-CIO)
• Angela Davis
• Abdi Soltani (Executive Director, ACLU NorCal)
• Lara Kiswani (Executive Director, AROC)
• Cleve Jones
• Honey Mahogany
• Sandy Reding (President, California Nurses Association)

TOP MOMENTS FROM THE DAY:

• Washington, DC
• Atlanta, GA
• New York, NY
• Boston, MA
• San Francisco, CA
• Chicago, IL
• Charlotte, NC
• Orlando, FL
• Chattanooga, TN
• The Villages, FL
• Rockingham, VA
• Kansas City, MO
• Bozeman, MT
• Columbus, IN
• Miami, FL
• Dallas, TX

Building on the momentum of the June 14 day of action, which drew over five million participants nationwide, today’s historic mobilization is the next chapter in a growing movement to defend democracy and reject authoritarian control. Together, millions are sending an unmistakable message: we are a nation of equals, and our democracy will not be dismantled.

National Nurses United is the largest and fastest-growing union and professional association of registered nurses in the United States with more than 225,000 members nationwide. NNU affiliates include California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee, DC Nurses Association, Michigan Nurses Association, Minnesota Nurses Association, and New York State Nurses Association.