What Are the Human Rights Implications of the Super Bowl? Two SJSU Events Explore the Relationship Between Human Trafficking and Major Events

On Sunday, February 8, Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara will host Super Bowl LX, the culmination of the National Football League season and one of the most highly anticipated sporting events nationwide. Massive athletic events bring thousands of visitors, tourism, cultural and artistic opportunities to the hosting region - and with that, an entire underground economy that has the potential to harm lives.

This is why planning such large-scale events require years of collaboration, and also why researchers like Kezban Yagci Sokat, associate professor of business analytics at the Lucas College and Graduate School of Business and research associate at the Mineta Transportation Institute, study how transportation systems can combat human trafficking, especially during large events when millions of people travel. This work is supported by a grant from the Senate Bill 1, also known as the Road Repair and Accountability Act of 2017 .

Recognized in 2024 by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) , Yagci Sokat's work on the intersection of human trafficking and transportation, funded by the U.S. Department of Transportation, was used by the U.S. Senate for outreach to key transportation industry stakeholders, such as Uber and Lyft. She is the lead researcher on the Not on Transit project in collaboration with the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority of California and funded by the Federal Transit Administration to increase public awareness on human trafficking.

Yagci Sokat explains that human trafficking is not as explicit or sensational as many media outlets would have people believe. While sex trafficking is a problem, especially during major sporting events, she explains that an even more common occurrence is labor trafficking, which the National Human Trafficking Hotline defines as "a form of modern-day slavery in which individuals perform labor or services through the use of force, fraud or coercion."

"People tend to think, [human trafficking] doesn't happen in my city, not in my neighborhood," she says. "You cannot generalize; human trafficking doesn't discriminate against sector, region, area of the city, or even gender."

She stresses how important it is to work in partnership with transportation agencies, trafficking survivor networks and local nonprofits to educate the public on how to identify exploitation as it happens and plan safe ways to respond.

Yagci Sokat will participate in two events at San José State in advance of the Super Bowl. On Tuesday, January 27, the Mineta Transportation Institute will be hosting a student-led event focused on event preparedness, and on Tuesday, February 3, the Human Rights Institute at San José State will host the first of three Bay Area Sports and Human Rights Symposia, events that will explore the human rights implications of major events such as the Super Bowl, the West Regional of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship and the FIFA World Cup.

Michael Dao, director of the Human Rights Institute and associate professor of kinesiology, will moderate the HRI event.

"As a critical scholar in physiology and sport studies, I've always paid attention to the underlying issues related to sports mega events," says Dao. "There's been a ton of research about how sport mega events are marketed as these great [economic] spaces, as well as general enjoyment, but at the same time we know that there is a lot of precarious labor related to these events. We're going to talk about human trafficking, drugs and sex work."

While there is no significant data yet that proves a correlation between major events and an increase in trafficking or exploitation, one need look no further than the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. For years leading up to the international soccer tournament, migrant laborers from other countries were brought in to construct facilities in often dangerous working conditions. A 2021 investigation by The Guardian revealed that more than 6,500 migrant workers died while constructing World Cup venues and infrastructures - leading FIFA to establish a $50 million Qatar legacy fund dedicated to international development projects in collaboration with the World Health Organization, the World Trade Organization and the United Nations' refugees agency.

Dao says that events like the Super Bowl offer a literal spotlight on both the myriad opportunities that Silicon Valley represents, as well as the ongoing social, economic and cultural challenges that communities face, with or without a major football game.

"I want our students to be informed," he says. "Super Bowl weekend, if you look at it objectively, is going to be a lot of fun. But at the same time, who works these events? How much are they paid? How are we protecting our communities? I think if you're not considering these questions, you're not seeing the actual scope of these events. In 2027, when this is all said and done, we will still have people who are unhoused. We will still have people working in precarious labor. How will these events move the needle [for our communities] further?"

See below for additional information on the two upcoming panels.

Mega Event Safety: Student Voices on Human Trafficking

Tuesday, January 27, 5-6 p.m.
Boccardo Business Center (BBC) 032
Lucas College and Graduate School of Business

This event will feature Radhika Mandhanya, '26 Business Administration, and Connie Cheung, '27 Sociology, discussing Senate Bill (SB)1-funded work, "Combating Human Trafficking at Major Events Through Transportation." Mirah Rasoamirino, '27 Business Analytics, and Pranav Santhakumar, '29 Industrial and Systems Engineering, will talk about the "Impacts of Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive: A Multidisciplinary Global Perspective," supported by a Lucas Fellowship Research Grant. The event is a collaboration with the student organization Boundary.0, the Mineta Transportation Institute and the Institute for Public Affairs and Civic Engagement (IPACE).

The four students presenting on January 27 have also prepared a blog post about related issues in collaboration with MTI, which can be read here.

Bay Area Sports and Human Rights Symposia: Human Trafficking and the Hidden Labor of Sporting Events

Tuesday, February 3, noon - 1:15 p.m.
Digital Humanities Center
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library

A panel of SJSU faculty members, alumni and community leaders will discuss underground labor that occurs during major sporting events, including sex work, drugs and precarious (i.e. temporary, low-paid or insecure) labor. Panelists include Kezban Yagci Sokat ; Michael Dao, director of the Human Rights Institute and associate professor of kinesiology; Tarhata Brazsal, '08 Nursing, sexual assault forensic examiner; and Sharan Dhanoa, director of the South Bay Coalition to End Human Trafficking.

This event is just the start of the conversation. The Human Rights Institute will be hosting two additional symposia connected to upcoming sporting events: On March 19, the HRI will host a March Madness panel covering the evolving landscape of collegiate sports, and on April 22, a panel will explore sports and global human rights in advance of the FIFA World Cup.