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NFL Close To Approving Financing For 49ers' Proposed Stadium In Santa Clara

The NFL "within three weeks could approve the financing for the San Francisco 49ers’ planned stadium in Santa Clara, Calif. -- including providing up to $200 million in funding grants from the league -- marking the strongest sign yet that California’s first new football stadium in almost half a century is as near to reality as it has ever been," according to Daniel Kaplan of SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL. The banks leading the lending for the 49ers project "sent preliminary information last week to other financial institutions describing the targeted $850 million loan as a bridge to a more complete financing that would occur during construction, which is expected to start this year." The league "has tentatively called a brief owners meeting for Feb. 2 in Indianapolis, three days before the Super Bowl, largely to address the 49ers stadium issue." The team’s bankers -- Goldman Sachs, U.S. Bank and Bank of America -- "are expected to attend." The meeting is "not set in stone and may not occur if the 49ers are not ready with their plan, which must be approved by owners and would be eligible to receive up to $200 million in stadium funding grants and loans from the league’s new venue-financing program." Any financing that is football-related "must be approved by the league, as would any new lease" (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 1/16 issue). Meanwhile, Santa Clara City Attorney Ren Nosky said that voters "have already approved plans to build" the football stadium and "can't be asked again to reject an $850 million loan that's part of the deal." Nosky: "We don't believe it's subject to a referendum" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 1/14). Santa Clara Plays Fair, an anti-stadium group, has been "collecting signatures in the hopes of forcing a referendum on the Santa Clara Stadium Authority's Dec. 13 approval of the loan" (MERCURYNEWS.com, 1/13).  

WATCHING FROM AFAR: Former 49ers Owner Eddie DeBartolo Jr. said he opted not to attend Saturday's NFC Divisional playoff game against the Saints because "it would be doing a very large disservice" to his sister, Denise DeBartolo-York, and his nephew, Jed York, who currently own the team. He said that he has "flirted with the idea of returning to team ownership but has never acted on it." He "stays in touch but not closely connected" to the 49ers. He "frequently talks to his nephew, occasionally dispensing ownership advice." DeBartolo: "Jed's done a great job. He's a young man, and he's learned well. I've given him some advice and he's taken some of it and not taken some of it. I think he's done a remarkable job. He's stayed back, hired the right people now, and he's given them the autonomy they need to go and run that franchise with him in the background. Truthfully, you can't ask for anything more" (L.A. TIMES, 1/14).

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