The 49ers and Santa Clara tomorrow “will symbolically break ground on the $1.2 billion home field next to Great America, setting the stage for the NFL's Silicon Valley debut in 2014,” according to Mike Rosenberg of the SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS. In a three-part Q&A, 49ers CEO Jed York discusses how he “is ready to mark the beginning of the end to what has turned out to be a longer, bumpier ride to build a new stadium than he or anyone else expected.” Below are excerpts from the Q&A:
Q: Are you sad about leaving San Francisco?
York: It would have been different if we didn't try for close to nine years, making a concerted effort for such a long period of time. We had to finally come to the realization that if this doesn't work in San Francisco and we don't look elsewhere, at some point we're going to be out of options in the Bay Area. It was tough initially, but knowing that we couldn't find a way to make it happen in San Francisco, I don't have any regrets.
Q: What do you think will be the identity of the new stadium?
York: I think we're going to really blow people's socks off with the food and beverages in this building, and the thing that ties this all together is technology. We want to make sure this is the smartest stadium anyone has ever seen. … I think people are going to say this is the best outdoor sports and entertainment experience they have ever seen.
Q: Are you going to try to create an overall shopping, food and entertainment destination around the stadium?
York: When you look at Great America, that's one of the things. We did a long-term deal with them, there will be great game-day entertainment, you can bring your kids and go to the amusement park beforehand, go to the convention center across the street. The stadium is going to be an anchor, and allow all the other entertainment activities that go on in Santa Clara to really be enhanced (SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS, 4/16).
Q: How are things going with selling seats and the other financial obligations?
York: Things have been great, that was a big driving point to close the $850 million loan, and we received $200 million from the NFL. If we weren't on pace and ahead of pace for our sales target, I don't know if those things are going to be possible.
Q: What's the latest on whether the Oakland Raiders could be playing games at the Santa Clara stadium?
York: Nothing new is happening there; the loan was for us. It doesn't change that this is a building that was voted on to be designed for (up to) two teams but nothing new has come up with the Raiders (SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS, 4/17).
Q: What else, besides 49ers games, can we look forward to at the stadium?
York: We will definitely do other things: soccer games, concerts -- with a 70,000-seat stadium there aren't a ton of acts that are going to play that as a one-off. But music festivals, multiple-stage concerts, we can enhance things in the parking lot; the amphitheater at Great America has some stages now so there are a lot of things we can do. One of the things we're really focusing on with the 49ers museum is really being a place you can check out the 49ers history but you also want to check out the Bay Area's history, check out what makes this a LEED-certified, a smarter stadium, a stadium that really uses zero energy from the grid for 10 football games a year (SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS, 4/18).
