Tuesday, April 1, 2008

49ers Stadium Announcement - April 1, 2008

SF 49ers To Buy Santa Clara

Rumors have swirled for the last several weeks about the ongoing negotiations between the San Francisco 49ers and the City of Santa Clara. Initial rumors were too wild to publish but recent revelations have been substantiated by anonymous sources close to the negotiations who are not authorized to speak for either party. Given the significance of these rumors, it is imprudent to not report on these events.

It is expected the 49ers and the City of Santa Clara will hold a joint press conference in the coming weeks to announce the signing of an agreement that would have the 49ers purchase a portion of the North of Bayshore Area to help secure and ensure a stadium gets built. Initial rumors that circulated for several weeks, had the 49ers buying the entire City for an undisclosed amount, rumored to be nearly $1 billion, but those rumors proved to be false.

A source close to the negotiations has reported to the Santa Clara Weekly, the 49ers and the City are close to announcing an agreement rumored to be nearly $600 million. The area involved in the negotiations is bordered by Great America to Lafayette Street and Tasman Drive and Mission College/Agnew Road. Part of the agreement will have the City still paying $75 million for their portion of the stadium (rumored to have been negotiated down from the original $136 million) but that has been negotiated into the price which is rumored to be close to $700 million before the stadium subsidy is taken into account.

The Players in the Deal

The 49ers
The 49ers and City officials refused to comment on the rumors but a source close to the 49ers who is not authorized to speak indicated the 49ers “are excited at the prospect of getting even more involved in such a thriving community. The North of Bayshore Area is, of course, the area where we’re already in discussions with the City and this just seemed to be a good way to move the process along. ” The 49ers have already indicated to Cedar Fair their intention to fully support Cedar Fair and any businesses that wish to object to any changes Cedar Fair wants to do will face having their leases either revoked or rewritten at substantially higher rents.” The fact the City does not currently own the land is not seen as a stumbling block as the City is expected to use the process of eminent domain to obtain the rights to the land under the various industrial parks. While it is possible some companies might choose to move if faced with higher rents, we feel the existing lower rates, lower utility costs and discounted tickets will be enough of a perk to keep companies there.”

Cedar Fair
No one at Cedar Fair was willing to go on the record, but Cedar Fair would still operate the theme park with rental revenues now going to the 49ers instead of the City. A person close to the negotiations for Cedar Fair who is not authorized to speak for the organization reported “Cedar Fair is excited about working with the 49ers. We assume under their leadership we’ll be able to get our new rollercoaster height approved, something we have not been able to do under the City’s tutelage. We’re already planning lots of 49ers themed items – a 49ers Hall of Fame where we hope to have 49er greats past and present on hand when it’s officially announced; 49ers themed foods including a ‘Gold Rush’ series of health foods such as smoothies, tofurkey and low-cal garlic fries.”

The City
The City is also expected to announce a partnership between the City-owned utility, Silicon Valley Power, and the 49ers. While a name hasn’t been announced, rumors of the Silicon Valley Power Gold Rush persist in homage to the Power Company and the 49ers Gold Rush. “The Gold Rush Cheerleaders evoke so much energy among our fans that we think people will immediately see and appreciate the combined efforts. Gold Rush that are not busy with other duties are expected to work in the offices and on the customer service lines. “The Gold Rush are the face of the 49ers in the public and we expect people will be thrilled to be waited on by them when they contact the power company either on the phone or in person.”

This is a breaking news story – as news reveals itself, please return to this page for further updates.

1 comment:

  1. Uh... check the title of the article... including the part that says "April 1, 2008".

    Question: What is significant about that date? (Hint: Think about April 1). This was parody, sarcastic, amusing - or it was supposed to be taken that way.

    ReplyDelete