Legends Sales and Marketing has sold all 22 owners suites for the San Francisco 49ers’ proposed stadium, the highest-priced skyboxes in the venue.
Those deals, priced at $500,000 annually, are part of the $197 million in suite revenue committed so far to help finance the $1 billion project, said Al Guido, Legends’ vice president of sales in charge of the project.
Legends, the 49ers’ stadium marketing firm, sent out contracts for five regular suites in early December after the news broke that three banks will loan $850 million in stadium funding. If those sell, total suite revenue would reach the $200 million mark, Guido said.
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A rendering shows a suite at the planned Santa Clara stadium, which will have 165.
Image: SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS
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“We should be over $200 million by the time we get through the holidays,” he said. “We are actually ahead of where we were at the same time as Cowboys Stadium in terms of the percentage of sell-through, and still have 40-plus months to sell.” The stadium is targeted for a 2015 opening.
Legends is co-owned by the Dallas Cowboys, and Guido previously served as the Cowboys’ sales manager. Guido and Chad Estis, president of Legends Sales and Marketing, were responsible for generating $500 million in premium seat revenue at Cowboys Stadium.
Now, Guido is leading an effort to sell 165 suites in Santa Clara. The contracts span 10 and 20 years, similar to the terms for Cowboys Stadium suite holders.
Legends officials will not say exactly how many suites have been sold. The owners suites on the east side of the stadium are an all-inclusive product supported by a 22,000-square-foot club. Those deals cover the cost of food and drink with tickets to most events.
Most of the suites are distributed among three levels in a suite tower on the stadium’s west side. Those units cost $150,000 to $350,000 a year depending on location. All suites on both sides are 30 feet deep and 16 feet wide and have 16 seats.
Twelve of the 16 seats are outdoors after focus groups expressed their preference for open-air seating. If it rains during a game, the roof overhang will keep the 49ers’ highest-paying customers dry, Guido said.
In early January, Legends will go to market with the first phase of seat relocation, starting with 9,000 club seats tied to the 49ers’ Stadium Builders License program, the club’s term for PSLs.
Legends hired and trained 40 people in sales and service to relocate 60,000 season-ticket holders from Candlestick Park to the new facility. From an available seat standpoint, the 68,500 seats in Santa Clara are sold out with a waiting list of a few thousand that keeps growing, Guido said.
