A secretive Friday night Grace Cathedral event that has been publicly named only as “private event” is shutting down streets for three days. Turns out it’s the private Super Bowl party for NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.
We learned late last week that there would be a whole bunch of SF street closures for Super Bowl-related events, which totally makes sense, because there will be big crowds and big celebrities at many of these events. But one of these events jumped out at us because of its oddly high level of secrecy, something described only as “private event” at Grace Cathedral, which is scheduled for Friday night, but for some reason is allowed three days of road closures.
Consider the two images above from the Super Bowl’s official Bay Area Host Committee, both depicting street closures for Super Bowl events. The one on the left is perfectly explicit about what the event is, the one on the right merely says “private events.” Media coverage of the street closures only calls the secret event “private event.” And it gets three days of street closures and parking restrictions near Grace Cathedral, despite being just a one-day event. The drone ban even applies to this secretive private event.
SFist has learned what this super-secret private event really is. And oddly, we learned this from an email sent to parents at Cathedral School for Boys, which is adjacent to Grace Cathedral.
“The NFL will hold its annual Super Bowl Commissioner’s Party in Grace Cathedral on Friday, February 6, 2026. As a result, security and logistics on Nob Hill that day will not allow us to conduct school,” the school said in an email to parents. “We have been informed that streets around the school will be closed, we will not have access to drop-off and pick-up zones, and all entrants to the block will be required to undergo background checks and vehicle searches. These and other limitations make holding school on Friday, February 6, all but impossible.”
Okay, so what even is the Super Bowl Commissioner’s Party? We know the NFL Commissioner is Roger Goodell, but this is not a very highly publicized event. And I imagine that’s how Roger Goodell prefers it.
But we did find a leaked invite from the 2018 Super Bowl that says “The NFL Commissioner’s Party is another very exclusive event that is reserved for those in the inner circles of NFL’s bastion. Every year, the Commissioner invites a select, personally chosen group of coaches, players, and other distinguished guests to attend his private party. The event is high-class, elegant, and sophisticated, with guests enjoying a fine dinner in a luxurious setting as they enjoy speeches, presentations, and live entertainment.”
So you have to be personally invited by Roger Goodell to attend, apparently. Some plucky Instagrammer got the above photo carousel by making it into the 2023 Commissioner’s Party, and the photoset shows that Christina Aguilera performed.
So now we know what is shutting down the area around Grace Cathedral all week. But you can’t go, unless you get granted a wish by some genie in a bottle.
Image: Lorena T via Yelp
Joe Kukura
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