SANTA CLARA - Levi's Stadium (68,028)

[SF1977]

It looks like the new 49er stadium will be ready for the 2014 season:

Santa Clara leaders on Friday vowed for the first time to open the San Francisco 49ers' new stadium in 2014 -- a year earlier than planned -- after finalizing a deal with a major construction firm to start building in the next few months.
The groundbreaking for the South Bay stadium is set for late spring, about six months sooner than the previous estimate of early 2013.
The fast-tracked schedule is the strongest evidence yet that the 49ers intend to play only two more seasons at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. And there are costly consequences if the team doesn't kick off in Santa Clara in 2014: Construction partners Turner-Devcon would face tens of millions of dollars in penalties if the project falls behind.

Source and article: http://www.mercurynews.com/southbayfootball/ci_19941012

[slipperydog]

Update from 49ers CEO Jed York: http://www.nfl.com/videos/san-franci...-49ers-stadium

[pesto]

Originally Posted by SF1977

It looks like the new 49er stadium will be ready for the 2014 season:


Source and article: http://www.mercurynews.com/southbayfootball/ci_19941012

Wow; impressive work. This should be fun to watch.

I'm guessing that the SF Mayor's Office will be issuing a statement that SF is very optimistic that a new proposal from the City will be changing the Niners minds and getting them into a beautiful new stadium in the heart of SF.

[will101]

And they could have had Super Bowl XLIX after all ...

[pesto]

Originally Posted by will101

And they could have had Super Bowl XLIX after all ...

The buzz is that the 200M loan/grant came with an encouragement to lease to the Raiders. GideonYu, the new SF investor and President, says that the NFL discussed this with him but there are no strings attached. Maybe the Super Bowl is being held out as the reward for doing the right thing.

[Hindustani]

could have been better IMO.

[will101]

Originally Posted by pesto

The buzz is that the 200M loan/grant came with an encouragement to lease to the Raiders. GideonYu, the new SF investor and President, says that the NFL discussed this with him but there are no strings attached. Maybe the Super Bowl is being held out as the reward for doing the right thing.

I think that the Super Bowl is being held for some guarantee of an actual venue. Remember that the Niners were awarded Super Bowl XXXVIII for 2003, and the league had to rescind that award. It was an embarrassment to the NFL, and they are a bit leery of getting burned again.

Yu seems to be the ultimate stealth player in this. Just last April Jed York told Tim Kawakami that Yu was not coming in as a minority investor, and 10 months later he is an investor and the new team president. If they sold him the 15% of the team that they bought back from the Morabitos and Franklin Mieuli's estate, then that's another $150 million in cash towards the new playpen. Including the NFL money, they would now have over $600 million, even before naming rights and PSLs. It's possible that this thing might get built without any outside loans at all.

And speaking of naming rights, have you looked at Yu's resumé? It would be easier to list the heavy hitters he is not associated with.

At this point, I see nothing positive about including the Raiders in the equation.

[dfwabel]

Originally Posted by will101

I think that the Super Bowl is being held for some guarantee of an actual venue. Remember that the Niners were awarded Super Bowl XXXVIII for 2003, and the league had to rescind that award. It was an embarrassment to the NFL, and they are a bit leery of getting burned again.

Yu seems to be the ultimate stealth player in this. Just last April Jed York told Tim Kawakami that Yu was not coming in as a minority investor, and 10 months later he is an investor and the new team president. If they sold him the 15% of the team that they bought back from the Morabitos and Franklin Mieuli's estate, then that's another $150 million in cash towards the new playpen. Including the NFL money, they would now have over $600 million, even before naming rights and PSLs. It's possible that this thing might get built without any outside loans at all.

And speaking of naming rights, have you looked at Yu's resumé? It would be easier to list the heavy hitters he is not associated with.

At this point, I see nothing positive about including the Raiders in the equation.

The Mieuli estate has not sold their shares yet.

[pesto]

Originally Posted by will101

I think that the Super Bowl is being held for some guarantee of an actual venue. Remember that the Niners were awarded Super Bowl XXXVIII for 2003, and the league had to rescind that award. It was an embarrassment to the NFL, and they are a bit leery of getting burned again.

Yu seems to be the ultimate stealth player in this. Just last April Jed York told Tim Kawakami that Yu was not coming in as a minority investor, and 10 months later he is an investor and the new team president. If they sold him the 15% of the team that they bought back from the Morabitos and Franklin Mieuli's estate, then that's another $150 million in cash towards the new playpen. Including the NFL money, they would now have over $600 million, even before naming rights and PSLs. It's possible that this thing might get built without any outside loans at all.

And speaking of naming rights, have you looked at Yu's resumé? It would be easier to list the heavy hitters he is not associated with.

At this point, I see nothing positive about including the Raiders in the equation.

Well, I don't really care much either way, but from the Niners point of view there is more money coming in and the goodwill of the NFL; from Santa Clara's there is more money and more business for local food, drink, hotels, etc.

The downside is additional squabbling, some limits on coloration and decor, greater wear and tear, maybe some bad will if the Raider fans act up.

[will101]

Originally Posted by pesto

Well, I don't really care much either way, but from the Niners point of view there is more money coming in and the goodwill of the NFL; from Santa Clara's there is more money and more business for local food, drink, hotels, etc.

The downside is additional squabbling, some limits on coloration and decor, greater wear and tear, maybe some bad will if the Raider fans act up.

I'm not sure where the additional money would come from. It's going to take the NFL a little while to build up each increment of $200 million, and teams like the Vikings and Chargers will not be happy if the second check from the fund goes to the same stadium. And I don't think that the Raiders have a chunk of change lying around.

And at some point there would have to be some serious thought about the logistics of having the Raiders as a tenant. First, the rent will not be cheap. Also, many of the suites and club seats have been sold on the premise that the owners will get dibs on tickets to all events (except the Super Bowl). Which kills a major revenue stream for the Raiders, unless they enlarge the tower or something. Which will require a revision to the EIR. And so forth.

[will101]

This is from the Comicle: apparently the Murky slept in this morning.

Santa Clara leaders approved plans Tuesday night for a new 49ers stadium by the 2014 season, finalizing the team's exit from San Francisco sooner than expected.

The City Council voted 5-1 to support an $878.6 million contract that calls for kicking off construction on the 68,500-seat stadium in July, about six months earlier than anticipated, and finishing by August 2014, in time for the exhibition season.

The 49ers, who have called San Francisco their home since their founding in 1946, could play just two more seasons in Candlestick Park before moving.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...#ixzz1mTgKynRP

[pesto]

Originally Posted by will101

I'm not sure where the additional money would come from. It's going to take the NFL a little while to build up each increment of $200 million, and teams like the Vikings and Chargers will not be happy if the second check from the fund goes to the same stadium. And I don't think that the Raiders have a chunk of change lying around.

And at some point there would have to be some serious thought about the logistics of having the Raiders as a tenant. First, the rent will not be cheap. Also, many of the suites and club seats have been sold on the premise that the owners will get dibs on tickets to all events (except the Super Bowl). Which kills a major revenue stream for the Raiders, unless they enlarge the tower or something. Which will require a revision to the EIR. And so forth.

The additional money comes from the Raiders, who will have to pay rent. It's possible that NFL loans could be turned into grants, as well, but that's just speculation.

Sure there are problems but NY worked it out and the logic for local businesses (20 busy days vs. 10) seems clear. May even justfiy another hotel or bar or more convention business.

btw, SJ and Santa Clara should be gearing up for Super Bowl L or LI or LII. A great time to show off new baseball, soccer, corporate HQ's, shopping, transit, etc. SJ still has a very low profile for a city it's size.

[will101]

Originally Posted by pesto

The additional money comes from the Raiders, who will have to pay rent. It's possible that NFL loans could be turned into grants, as well, but that's just speculation.

They have to be loans, so the fund can be replenished for the Vikings, Chargers, Raiders, Jaguars, Bills, etc.

Sure there are problems but NY worked it out and the logic for local businesses (20 busy days vs. 10) seems clear. May even justfiy another hotel or bar or more convention business.

The Jets and Giants were in together from the start, as soon as the Jets realized their Manhattan plan was a non-starter. We're much further along here.

I'm trying to leave my feelings about Raider fans aside, but from a purely financial standpoint I don't know how to make it work. Strictly from a numbers view, the Raiders would be better off giving 25% of the team to AEG, and moving to LA.

btw, SJ and Santa Clara should be gearing up for Super Bowl L or LI or LII. A great time to show off new baseball, soccer, corporate HQ's, shopping, transit, etc. SJ still has a very low profile for a city it's size.

I think they are. IIRC Chuck Reed mentioned it at a recent SJ council meeting, and I know that Santa Clara has discussed it. One problem is the NFL thinks that SF is the center of the local universe, and the people in the outlying areas barely know how to use fire.

[pesto]

Some of the reports say it is a mixture of loans and grants; maybe this means subsidized interest rates, which is the same as a grant.

I have had this problem with out-of-town business guests. They want to go to SF until they realize how far it is. After that, it's Palo Alto or Santana Row. I expect some of the out-of-town fans feel the same and won't even realize they are 40 miles from SF and .4 mile from the SJ city limits and SJ airport is about 2 miles away.

[GunnerJacket]

I find it sad the NFL can't find a way to put more money into their stadium funding. I agree it should remain a loan program, but there's no reason an enterprise this big can't have a pool of $700M- $1B to draw from in very short order. That was the most disingenuous part of their last labor negotiation, bickering over how to spend the new money while failing to shore up this account deeper.

[pesto]

I'm not sure why they should loan more when cities are willing to put land, money or tax breaks into the deals to make them work. For mid-market cities having an NFL team is a dream come true. And don't think that Jacksonville, Nashville and the like don't let San Antonio, Memphis and like know about it.

[bewilder2]

It will be windy, just like it is at candlestick park. But I think the real difference is that it affects soccer a lot more than football. Only the kickers and long bombs down the field are really affected. Rain affects football more than wind, and you'd get that w/ no roof or partial roof, so it really doesn't matter.

[will101]

Originally Posted by bewilder2

It will be windy, just like it is at candlestick park. But I think the real difference is that it affects soccer a lot more than football. Only the kickers and long bombs down the field are really affected. Rain affects football more than wind, and you'd get that w/ no roof or partial roof, so it really doesn't matter.

No, it won't be anywhere close to the levels of wind at Candlestick. If you were familiar with the microclimates involved, you would know. The wind at Candlestick is basically coming straight off of the ocean, which is an impossibility in Santa Clara.

[bewilder2]

Originally Posted by will101

No, it won't be anywhere close to the levels of wind at Candlestick. If you were familiar with the microclimates involved, you would know. The wind at Candlestick is basically coming straight off of the ocean, which is an impossibility in Santa Clara.

To qualify my statement, you are correct, it won't be nearly as windy as Candlestick. But there will still be wind.

I will miss the scenery around Candlestick though. Not many stadiums can beat it on that.

[will101]

Originally Posted by bewilder2

To qualify my statement, you are correct, it won't be nearly as windy as Candlestick. But there will still be wind.

Fair enough.

I will miss the scenery around Candlestick though. Not many stadiums can beat it on that.

This is true. Even AT&T Park is lacking the hill next door. I remember seeing the Giants as a little tyke, and looking out past that weird scoreboard to the huge crane, the bay and the mountains above Oakland.