Santa Clara's stadium authority board "voted unanimously to seek about $5 million in unpaid rent" from the 49ers, according to Darren Sabedra of the San Jose MERCURY NEWS. City Attorney Brian Doyle said that the team has told the city that they are "not paying 20% of this season's bill because the coronavirus pandemic caused the cancellation of two exhibition games at Levi's Stadium." Doyle added that there is "no provision in the lease agreement that gets the 49ers off the hook" as a result of the NFL's cancellation of the entire preseason schedule. The city's stadium authority board -- comprised of Mayor Lisa Gillmor and the City Council -- in a closed session on Tuesday "approved filing an arbitration claim to recover the lost money from the team." It is "unclear who will arbitrate the case." The city said that the 49ers owe approximately $2.7M now and it "anticipates the figure to climb" to about $5M by the end of this month. The council in February "voted unanimously to end an agreement that allows the 49ers to operate the stadium for home games and other NFL events." But since the team and city are engaged in litigation, the 49ers' "management of the facility has not changed" (San Jose MERCURY NEWS, 9/10).
