Empty NFL Construction Fund Could Create Problem For 49ers
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said that the league’s G3 stadium construction
fund “is empty,” but 49ers officials said that they “expect that NFL money will
be available to help them build a new home by 2012,” according to Hoge & Gay of
the S.F. CHRONICLE. NFL owners approved a $300M loan for the new Giants-Jets stadium
and a $42.5M loan to help renovate Arrowhead Stadium, and “those were the last
two projects paid for by the fund.” But NFL VP/PR Greg Aiello indicated that he
“expected the owners would fashion a replacement stadium-financing program during
the offseason.” 49ers VP/Communications Lisa Lang added, “We’re confident that
there will be a funding source there for us.” City of S.F. Dir of Economic Development
Jesse Blout said that he “always assumed in his discussions with the 49ers that
roughly $150[M] would be available from the NFL for a stadium” (S.F. CHRONICLE,
2/3). Goodell said, “We have always had a leaguewide stadium funding mechanism.
I anticipate we will. But this has to be considered within the context of our
labor agreement and revenue sharing with the players association” (SAN JOSE
MERCURY NEWS, 2/3).
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Empty G3 Fund Could Present
Problem For York’s Stadium Plan |
ANOTHER ROADBLOCK? In S.F., Ray Ratto wrote the potential lack of league
funds for a stadium “creates something of a problem for the 49ers.” The labor
situation is “likely to drag out until 2010, when the current contract expires,”
and unless the league is “very lucky, unless the owners suddenly kiss and make
up, unless the two sides can avoid a labor nightmare, the 49ers stadium project,
wherever it is, has about a one-day window to get its $150M, and banks don’t tend
to turn around that kind of withdrawal with a couple of hour’s notice” (S.F.
CHRONICLE, 2/3).
DESIGN: 49ers co-Owner John York, who has been “deeply involved in designing”
the team’s potential stadium in Santa Clara, said that he told architects not
to “make this the last of the current generation of NFL stadiums. Make it the
first of a new era.” Tony Gonzales, principal in charge of the stadium project
for HNTB, “envisions a street-fair atmosphere” similar to Yawkey Way, a pedestrian
plaza of memorabilia shops and food stands outside of Fenway Park (SAN JOSE
MERCURY NEWS, 2/4).
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