San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie: A True Soccer Fan Riding the World Cup Wave
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - While many U.S. mayors and politicians talk up their love for soccer during the World Cup spotlight, San Francisco's Daniel Lurie insists he's the real thing. The 49-year-old Democrat wakes early on weekends to watch English Premier League matches, has attended five World Cups, and even hoisted the trophy with Brazilian legend Gilberto Silva earlier this year.
Since the tournament kicked off, Lurie has been a fixture at fan zones and bars across the city, sleeves rolled up, mingling with boisterous fans in pubs draped in flags. “I’ve been a huge soccer fan my whole life,” he told Reuters in a park overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge, pausing to check the Brazil vs. Japan score. “A lot of people are excited about the World Cup. I kind of live and die soccer. So for me, this isn’t just for this month. I get into soccer all year round.”
Lurie’s fandom runs deep: a supporter of Leeds United, he attended World Cups in 1994, 2010, 2014 and 2022, watching five matches in three days during the latter. The current tournament brings six games to the San Francisco Bay Area, including a crucial last-32 clash between the United States and Bosnia on Wednesday. His ties to the sport extend beyond spectating—he is an investor in 49ers Enterprises, the commercial arm of the San Francisco 49ers, which owns both Leeds United and Scottish giants Rangers. “We are now staying up again,” he said of Leeds’ promotion. “We’ve got a long way to go to get to that top six, to get into European competition, but I believe we can.”
Elected in 2024 as a moderate Democrat and political outsider, Lurie campaigned on fixing San Francisco’s declining downtown, combating the fentanyl crisis, and addressing rampant homelessness. A philanthropist and heir to the Levi Strauss fortune, he spent $9.5 million of his own money on his campaign—corrected from earlier reports—with his mother, Mimi Haas, a major Levi shareholder, as the next-largest contributor (Forbes pegged her net worth at $1.4 billion in 2021).
Lurie has cultivated a man-of-the-people image on social media, posting videos of himself at farmers markets, officiating same-sex weddings, eating Mexican chilaquiles, and handing out ice cream. During the World Cup, his Instagram has exploded with clips of him sitting on the floor at watch parties or hopping between pubs to catch Lionel Messi’s double for Argentina, the U.S. beating Australia, and France vs. Senegal. “We’re hitting every spot around the city. It’s been electric. Our neighborhoods have been teeming with fans from around the world,” he said.
His influence extends beyond soccer: leveraging Silicon Valley ties, Lurie last year persuaded President Donald Trump to cancel a planned National Guard and ICE surge into San Francisco, arguing the city was “on the rise” and that troops would derail its recovery. He points to a 30% drop in crime and homicide rates at a 70-year low as evidence of progress. “We still have work to do. And that’s where events like the World Cup help us continue that momentum,” he said.
After the tournament, the stadium—known as Levi’s Stadium during the 49ers’ season—will revert to its commercial identity once a giant tarpaulin is removed. Lurie hopes the World Cup leaves a lasting legacy. “We need things to unify us,” he said. “The World Cup here in North America and here in the San Francisco Bay Area is doing just that—bringing people together, uniting people. We need more of that.”