Shared 49ers-Raiders Stadium Could Help Project Financing

Santa Clara Homeowners Worry About Impact Of 49ers, Raiders Sharing Stadium

With the NFL urging the 49ers to consider sharing a stadium with the Raiders, the idea of the clubs teaming to build a new home in Santa Clara "has boosted hopes that the project could be financed, while raising fear among others of nonstop rowdy Sundays," according to Mike Swift of the SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS. The two Santa Clara City Council members "most concerned about the city's financial stake" in the proposed 49ers stadium in the city said that the possibility of a second team "could make them view the project more positively." Swift notes adding a second NFL team "would greatly increase the revenue the stadium would generate, by increasing the building's sponsorship and seat license revenue." But homeowners near the stadium site said that "their worries about noise, parking, traffic, crime and property values would be exacerbated by doubling the number of football games -- particularly because half would be Raiders games." Meanwhile, Swift notes with or without the Raiders, the 49ers "appear resigned that the economy and the state budget crisis will force them to accept a redevelopment subsidy from the city that is somewhat less than the $136[M] maximum the City Council voted to consider last year." 49ers President Jed York yesterday said that the city of Santa Clara and the team are "exploring a number of different funding scenarios based on lower tax revenue within the redevelopment zone where the stadium would be built" (SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS, 1/27).

HUDDLE UP: In San Jose, Mark Purdy suggests that the NFL may have already decided that it "will not pony up the dough to help the 49ers and Raiders build separate stadiums in the Bay Area," so the 49ers and Raiders "had better sit and talk to each other." While "common wisdom is that Raiders owner Al Davis will not agree to a sharing arrangement," why has the team "never played in a stadium that it did not share?" Purdy: "If a combined stadium with the 49ers is Davis' best option, and the league is at the table pushing the negotiations, and the money is there ... well, much stranger things have happened" (SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS, 1/27). The EXAMINER's, Samuel Lam wrote if the 49ers "took this chance to share the stadium with the Raiders, it would help both organizations in saving money and it makes it easier to help maintain the team's accessibility by the fans." A move to Santa Clara for both teams "may not seem that great of an idea now, but in the long run, it might be OK" (EXAMINER.com, 1/26).

FORWARD PASS: In S.F., Ray Ratto noted Davis at some point will "pass control of the Raiders to his son Mark," and there is "no indication that running a football team burns in the son's soul as it has the father's." For the 49ers and Raiders to share a stadium, the Raiders "would have to promise in writing to keep the team in the Bay Area for years, and like anyone in the corporate world these days, years can quickly turn to weeks." The Raiders' lack of longevity in the Bay Area "alone should cause the 49ers far more pause than they are showing before they keep flogging this story as doable" (SFGATE.com, 1/26).