49ers CEO Jed York said is "very confident" the team's new stadium in Santa Clara will have a naming-rights partner by the time it opens in August '14. Appearing on Comcast SportsNet Bay Area's "Chronicle Live" on Tuesday night, York said, "I wouldn't say that we are close to putting it to bed right now, but there are a lot of people that are interested. ... The key is finding the right partner." He said there was not "necessarily a timeline" to get a deal done and implement it, "but we've got about a year-and-a-half until the stadium opens." York said it has to "be the right fit because this is going to be a partnership that lasts for a long, long time. So you don't want to force something on the front end that might hurt you over the next 20 or 30 years." York said of S.F.'s Super Bowl bid, "We are going to have a very unique approach to a Super Bowl to make sure we really leave a lasting legacy in the Bay Area and it's going to be something that's going to be a tough vote for the owners looking at somebody like Miami who's had a Super Bowl a bunch of times in the past, versus San Francisco that we haven't hosted in the Bay Area since 1985." York said the bid means "we represent a region" and there is "no question that everybody is ready to work together and go after it and hopefully win the bid" ("Chronicle Live," CSN Bay Area, 4/16).
SEARCHING FOR A PURPOSE: In Ft. Lauderdale, Dave Hyde noted Dolphins Owner Stephen Ross’ Related Group has "signed on to develop around" the new 49ers' stadium. This move is a "reminder that the undeveloped land around Sun Life Stadium that Ross owns presents an economic opportunity for him -- if something can be figured to do with it." Hyde: "You can bet Related’s best minds have tried to unlock what development should go on the land Ross owns [near] Sun Life. Nothing simple comes to my mind beyond office buildings. Nothing evidently has come to them, either" (SUN-SENTINEL.com, 4/17).
