The 49ers still owe the city of S.F. $1M from the
team's naming rights deal with 3Com Corp., according to
Edward Epstein of the S.F. CHRONICLE, who reports that of
the $4M due the city, the team has paid $3M, with the final
$1M originally due in November of '97. The "payments were
supposed to go into a special account to pay for maintenance
of the old stadium at Candlestick Point or for costs of
planning its replacement." But "nothing has happened" due
to the legal charges that team co-Owner Eddie DeBartolo Jr.
faced in LA. In addition, the team claims that it "already
spent" the $1M on planning for the "now-moribund" stadium-
mall project and "wants negotiations with the city on how it
would spend the money" if the team pays it. Epstein writes
that the team's "management situation has been so chaotic
that the 49ers missed the deadline last year for telling the
city it wanted to continue the naming rights agreement with
3Com." 49ers attorney Jim Reuben: "The ball got dropped."
He noted the recent departures of top team execs and said
that "nobody pressed the issue of the naming rights payments
until recently" under the ownership of Denise DeBartolo York
and her husband John (S.F. CHRONICLE, 3/15).
