Despite the very public push to get the newly arrived hordes of electric scooters off San Francisco’s sidewalks, the two-wheel rentals could wind up operating with the city’s blessing.

“America is all about choices, and this could be a really good choice” for getting around, said Municipal Transportation Agency board Chairwoman Cheryl Brinkman.

“But the key is going to be for the companies to work in partnership with the city,” she said.

In the past week, the tug-of-war between the city and the three scooter providers — Bird, LimeBike and Spin — has devolved into trench warfare. The three companies have ignored calls to cease operations, and the Department of Public Works has been mounting daily sweeps, impounding up to 100 scooters a day and then releasing them back to the scooter companies the next day after they agree to pay a fine.

“As long as we get complaints, we are going to pick them up,” said Public Works Director Mohammed Nuru.

The scooters, which can reach 15 mph, began showing up in mass throughout downtown in recent weeks. They are rented through smartphone apps for $1 plus 15 cents a minute. Riders leave them on the sidewalk for the next customer.

Much to the chagrin — and fear — of pedestrians, the scooters often whiz down sidewalks in violation of state vehicle codes. Riders rarely wear helmets.

Police haven’t made any systematic attempt to stop the illegal riding, though.

Meanwhile, the city’s 311 customer service portal reported 454 complaints over a nine-day period ending Thursday. In comparison, the call center received 1,513 complaints about homeless camps in the same period.

When Public Works responds to sidewalk complaints, however, the scooters are often gone, so Nuru has ordered crews to pick them up on sight if they appear to be blocking the sidewalk, regardless of whether there was a complaint.

“Why can’t they just wait and do the right thing?” Nuru said of the scooter companies. “Why don’t they follow the laws?”

For starters, there are no local permit rules on rental scooters.

And while the Board of Supervisors unanimously voted last week to give the transportation agency the authority to draw up a set of rules, the law won’t go into effect until mid-May. The agency hopes to have the rules in place by the time the law takes effect.

The agency has three primary concerns: that the scooters not block sidewalks when parked, that the companies share ride data with the city and that renting a scooter is affordable and available in all parts of the city.

By week’s end, Spin, Bird and LimeBike had all issued statements saying they are committed to “working with the city” on the permit process.

LimeBike will start handing out free, branded helmets to its users and is working on a new app feature so riders can submit a photo of their parked scooter at the end of each ride. They are also posting rules about riding on sidewalks.

“It can be done, and it can be done well,” said Brinkman, the agency chairwoman, citing the city’s agreements with Jump Bikes as an example.

Brinkman said the scooters are an example of “the tech mentality to move fast and break things, which doesn’t sit well with people in San Francisco.”

Maybe not — but it did work for Uber, Lyft and the commuter shuttles.

Football kicks: The 2019 College Football Playoff National Championship at Levi’s Stadium in January is expected to bring tens of millions of dollars to the South Bay. But host city Santa Clara says it’s getting the short end of the deal.

Under the team’s agreement with the city, money from non-49er events such as the championship game is to be used to help pay down the stadium debt.

The 49ers, however, are expected to report to the Santa Clara Stadium Authority on Tuesday that, while the game’s host committee will spend $12 million producing the event, there will be no money left over for the city.

What’s more, the team and the city still haven’t reached an agreement on who’s picking up the public safety costs outside the stadium.

Santa Clara will benefit from having some 7,500 hotel guests, including the two teams and their supporters. But nearby San Jose will get the bulk of the hotel bookings, not to mention all the party money expected to come its way from hosting concerts, the fan festival and media day.

The 49ers say the championship game is the second-biggest sporting event in the country after the Super Bowl and that it serves as an inducement to attract soccer matches, concerts and other events year round that generate stadium revenue for Santa Clara.

“Some politicians will try to mislead the public to score political points,” said 49ers spokesman Rahul Chandhok. “But the facts are: The 49ers offered to assume the (financial) risk ... to host the event while Santa Clara is receiving millions in economic and revenue benefits.”

The Niners also say the financing plan was laid out to former Santa Clara City Manager Julio Fuentes when they bid for the game.

Maybe so, but the “magnitude of the losses” was never disclosed in writing to city’s Stadium Authority, said Mayor Lisa Gillmor, who was part of a City Hall shakeup that saw Fuentes exit.

In any case, Gillmor said in a statement, “We expect our stadium business partner, the 49ers, to book money-making events at the stadium, since we share the profits from all non-NFL events.”

San Francisco Chronicle columnists Phillip Matier and Andrew Ross appear Sundays, Mondays and Wednesdays. Matier can be seen on the KPIX-TV morning and evening news. He can also be heard on KCBS radio Monday through Friday at 7:50 a.m. and 5:50 p.m. Got a tip? Call (415) 777-8815, or email matierandross@ sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @matierandross