Kurtenbach: Why 2026 promises to be a massive year in Bay Area sports

Good riddance to 2025. We survived the atmospheric rivers, Brandon Aiyuk and whatever the heck that was from the Giants’ lineup.

But 2026? Oh, 2026 is special. It’s a calendar year stuffed with so much narrative weight it’s threatening to create a new fault line. It’s the year of last chances and new eras.

And star power: Boy, do we have it.

Here is what you, the beleaguered, overcharged Bay Area sports fan, have to look forward to.

The winter of our discontent

The 49ers’ annual January ulcer

The 49ers are in the playoffs. What happens after that is anyone’s guess. But we know part of this drill: The national media will question the Niners’ head coach and quarterback until they actually win the title. Enjoy the ride, but keep the antacids close.

The Jonathan Kuminga “Liberation” Day (Jan. 15)

Circle Jan. 15 on your calendar. The Warriors have. That is the day Jonathan Kuminga’s trade restrictions lift, and he can finally be sent to a team that will let him dribble and shoot 25 times a game without Steve Kerr grimacing on the sideline. The Warriors have been holding onto Kuminga’s “potential” like a cryptocurrency wallet they lost the password to. On the 15th, the password will be found, and the transaction will be imminent. It’s not a trade; it’s a mercy killing of a timeline that never was.

Super Bowl LX: Billionaires’ BBQ (Feb. 8)

The Super Bowl returns to Levi’s Stadium. Get ready for two weeks of national media complaining about the lack of shade in a game played at night, and the fact that San Francisco is actually a 45-minute drive from the stadium (on a good day, which this won’t be). It’s the biggest party in the world for a bunch of people you’d never invite to a party, hosted in a corporate office park. Fitting.

But, hey, maybe the 49ers will be in it.

Spring Hopes Eternal

Macklin Celebrini: The only adult in the room

The San Jose Sharks are pushing for the playoffs for the first time since the pandemic, and Macklin Celebrini is legitimately playing like he wants the Hart Trophy. Watching him skate is the reason to go to SAP Center, which will also host the NCAA West Regional Finals in March. Go for the college basketball; stay a few more days to watch a college-aged kid outplay a bunch of 30-year-old multimillionaires in the greatest league in the world.

Steph Curry’s last dance (Part 4)

The Warriors are doing the “one last push” thing again. It’s like watching an aging rock band tour; the hits are still good, but the lead singer’s back hurts and the drummer is arguably a liability. Steph is still a basketball god, but his team’s margin for error is now microscopic. They are chasing a title in a Western Conference full of 22-year-olds who are keen to beat their idol. Does the Baby Faced Assassin have one last push in him? Do the Warriors have enough around him?

The summer swoon

Valkyries 2.0

The Bay’s newest team captured the attention of the entire region with their surprisingly competent play and electric homecourt atmosphere (except they couldn’t play at home in the playoffs). Can the Valkyries follow up the impressive first act? Will the WNBA let it happen by actually playing the 2026 season? The league and players’ association have a lockout looming.

The World Cup at Levi’s

FIFA is bringing the circus to Santa Clara. If the U.S. manages to win Group D — a big “if,” considering it’s the American men — it will play a knockout round game right here. Keep your fingers crossed, because the group-stage matches we landed are less than boring.

Who isn’t excited for an Austria vs. Jordan game at 9 p.m.? (Yes, that’s 100 percent real, on June 16.)

The Giants: Playoffs or the void

The 2026 Giants season might be the real last hurrah of 2026. With baseball’s CBA expiring in December and a 2027 lockout looming that threatens to cancel baseball until we all have flying cars, it’s now or never — playoffs or bust for the Giants. We’re all sick of mediocrity, and Buster Posey has made some brash moves — chief among them hiring Tony Vitello straight from the college ranks to manage the team — to end the drought.

Knowing the Giants, they will tease you with “playoffs” until Sept. 20 before pivoting hard to “bust,” leaving you with nothing but a $26 crab sandwich and the looming silence of a strike.

But hey, we’ll believe for months, right?

The autumn of “new eras”

The 49ers’ 2026 season

This is the season the Niners have been making every move to serve. Whatever happens to the Niners to end the 2025 season is gravy. In 2026, the Niners need to be playing for a title, or something has gone horribly wrong.

The Bay’s college football “renaissance”

Down on The Farm, general manager Andrew Luck (still weird to say) and new head coach Tavita Pritchard are trying to make Stanford football care about football again. It’s a bold strategy. Meanwhile, in Berkeley, Tosh Lupoi is yelling at people and recruiting five-star players, while Heisman contender Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele throws lasers. Cal is “on the ascent,” which usually precedes a comical stumble, but for now, we are legally required to be optimistic.

Buckle up, Bay Area. It’s going to be a long, loud year.