Eric the Red
Team HuskerBoard
49ers say they're moving to Santa Clara
Phil Matier and Andrew Ross, Chronicle Staff Writers
Thursday, November 9, 2006
The owner of the San Francisco 49ers said Wednesday that plans to build a new football stadium at Candlestick Point are dead and that the team will be leaving San Francisco, according to several sources.
In a series of evening phone calls to San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom and to several supervisors, team owner John York declared that months of negotiations with the city are over and that he plans to move the team to Santa Clara.
Mayoral spokesman Peter Ragone said the call came in early evening, stunning and perplexing officials who had been meeting weekly with team representatives.
York's decision followed a meeting earlier in the day with representatives of the Lennar Corp., the would-be developers of the housing and retail stores that were to accompany the proposed 80,500-seat stadium. York gave his decision during the meeting and began contacting city officials.
City Hall sources did not rule out the possibility that York's sudden announcement could be an attempt to cut a better deal for the football team.
But in his calls to the mayor and to supervisors, York repeatedly said that his decision was final. The team could not stay in San Francisco, he said, because the stadium deal "didn't pencil out" and because provisions for transportation and parking at the proposed site at Candlestick Point were inadequate.
In his calls, York complained that the proposed parking garage outside the stadium would mean the end of the traditional pregame tailgating parties and lead to traffic jams.
The announcement also apparently ends a possible bid by San Francisco to host the 2016 Summer Olympics, which would have been tied to the construction of a new stadium in San Francisco.
The timing of the 49ers' news means that even should some reconciliation between the city and the football team be reached, it might be too late to help the Olympic bid. San Francisco 2016 must submit its bid document, some 250-300 pages, by Jan. 22. The certainty of a bid's plans is one criterion the USOC will use in assessing it.
York told Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin that "Santa Clara has become the team's first priority'' as a new location and that the team was "not playing one city off the other,'' Peskin said.
York apparently reached his decision on his own, without consulting advisers or partners.
"We're disappointed, but we're not planning on mortgaging the future for a deal,'' mayoral spokesman Peter Ragone said.
Contacted by a Chronicle reporter, York was evasive.
"I don't know where you heard that,'' York said, when asked about reports that the team was leaving.
Asked if the reports were incorrect, York replied, "I didn't say that.''
Sources said York is also peeved at the city's insistence that any stadium deal be approved at the ballot box. A campaign to win voters would cost around $6 million, York complained.
Previous plans for a new stadium have called for a $600 million to $800 million complex to be built southeast of the current stadium.
In 1997, voters approved a controversial ballot proposition authorizing $100 million for a stadium, but that plan never got off the ground.
York said his next move is to begin talks with Santa Clara officials.
"We're proud to have the San Francisco 49ers as part of our community," said Santa Clara Mayor Patricia Mahan. "We have been looking to expand our entertainment options in the Great America/Convention Center area for years, and this stadium can be a great addition."
York in the past had let it be known that the team was inspecting a site near the Great America amusement park. If that location doesn't work, York said, he will look elsewhere in California.
York said he would elaborate today about his plans for the team.
Phil Matier and Andrew Ross, Chronicle Staff Writers
Thursday, November 9, 2006
The owner of the San Francisco 49ers said Wednesday that plans to build a new football stadium at Candlestick Point are dead and that the team will be leaving San Francisco, according to several sources.
In a series of evening phone calls to San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom and to several supervisors, team owner John York declared that months of negotiations with the city are over and that he plans to move the team to Santa Clara.
Mayoral spokesman Peter Ragone said the call came in early evening, stunning and perplexing officials who had been meeting weekly with team representatives.
York's decision followed a meeting earlier in the day with representatives of the Lennar Corp., the would-be developers of the housing and retail stores that were to accompany the proposed 80,500-seat stadium. York gave his decision during the meeting and began contacting city officials.
City Hall sources did not rule out the possibility that York's sudden announcement could be an attempt to cut a better deal for the football team.
But in his calls to the mayor and to supervisors, York repeatedly said that his decision was final. The team could not stay in San Francisco, he said, because the stadium deal "didn't pencil out" and because provisions for transportation and parking at the proposed site at Candlestick Point were inadequate.
In his calls, York complained that the proposed parking garage outside the stadium would mean the end of the traditional pregame tailgating parties and lead to traffic jams.
The announcement also apparently ends a possible bid by San Francisco to host the 2016 Summer Olympics, which would have been tied to the construction of a new stadium in San Francisco.
The timing of the 49ers' news means that even should some reconciliation between the city and the football team be reached, it might be too late to help the Olympic bid. San Francisco 2016 must submit its bid document, some 250-300 pages, by Jan. 22. The certainty of a bid's plans is one criterion the USOC will use in assessing it.
York told Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin that "Santa Clara has become the team's first priority'' as a new location and that the team was "not playing one city off the other,'' Peskin said.
York apparently reached his decision on his own, without consulting advisers or partners.
"We're disappointed, but we're not planning on mortgaging the future for a deal,'' mayoral spokesman Peter Ragone said.
Contacted by a Chronicle reporter, York was evasive.
"I don't know where you heard that,'' York said, when asked about reports that the team was leaving.
Asked if the reports were incorrect, York replied, "I didn't say that.''
Sources said York is also peeved at the city's insistence that any stadium deal be approved at the ballot box. A campaign to win voters would cost around $6 million, York complained.
Previous plans for a new stadium have called for a $600 million to $800 million complex to be built southeast of the current stadium.
In 1997, voters approved a controversial ballot proposition authorizing $100 million for a stadium, but that plan never got off the ground.
York said his next move is to begin talks with Santa Clara officials.
"We're proud to have the San Francisco 49ers as part of our community," said Santa Clara Mayor Patricia Mahan. "We have been looking to expand our entertainment options in the Great America/Convention Center area for years, and this stadium can be a great addition."
York in the past had let it be known that the team was inspecting a site near the Great America amusement park. If that location doesn't work, York said, he will look elsewhere in California.
York said he would elaborate today about his plans for the team.
