Santa Clara city leaders are "on the verge of clearing yet another hurdle" for a new stadium for the 49ers -- signing off on a lease that "requires construction to begin within" 120 days, according to Mike Rosenberg of the SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS. The lease, "expected to be approved by the City Council" tomorrow, will pour $41M in revenue from the 49ers and NFL games into the city's general budget over 40 years, "starting with the opening of the stadium" in '14. Extensions would add 20 years to the deal, while the city's profit would "roughly double" if the Raiders ultimately decide to move in. In addition to the rent for NFL games, the city will "get about half the net income from non-NFL events at the field, such as concerts." This will add $155M over 40 years, totaling $196M in rent. While the first lease deals "only with the site for the project, a second lease agreement in March will detail how much rent -- expected to be about" $30M annually -- the 49ers will pay the Stadium Authority to play in the actual stadium (SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS, 2/25).
PRAISING THE BOSS: 49ers President Gideon Yu said of team CEO Jed York, "I've worked for a lot of guys in the past that have audacious big visions. ... Jed ranks up there with those guys that were set to change the world." Yu "mentioned York's stewardship of the 49ers' Santa Clara stadium effort, which, over the past eight or nine months, has suddenly gotten on fast track for completion" by '14. Yu also "talked about York's high-tech and ecologically friendly plans for the stadium, and the reshaping of the 49ers' entire management vision" (SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS, 2/27).
