If You’re Going to Break the Law At Least Do It Well

By Robert Haugh

Did the 49ers and their stadium management group known as ManCo blow it with the U2 concert Wednesday night? Yup.

I’ve heard from several people who were there that it was terribly unorganized. I’ve been to concerts at Levi’s before and never heard of food shortages and the numerous complaints about parking.

Social media and mainstream media quoted a lot of attendees and concluded that it was a horribly organized concert.

Here are some examples:

• San Francisco Chronicle — Levi’s Stadium management blasted on social media after U2 concert
• NBC Bay Area — Here’s What Went Wrong At Levi’s Stadium During the U2 Concert Last Night
• Mercury News — U2 concert: ‘Monkeys could have organized better’U2 concert: ‘Monkeys could have organized better’

For Santa Clarans, the big issue is the violation of the city curfew which is 10 p.m. for stadium events on weekdays. As reported on this site yesterday, this is a big deal and may lead to the city trying to fire ManCo from managing the stadium.

One local attorney tells us this is a serious matter because “willfully” breaking the law is never a good thing, especially if the City is your landlord.  Even Vice Mayor Dominic Caserta, a strong 49ers supporter who voted unsuccessfully to extend the curfew said something negative. “Even though I think having U2 in our city is amazing and I’m supportive of the stadium, the council made a decision — the curfew is 10 p.m.,” Caserta said. “I’m very disappointed that neighbors had to hear noise after 10 p.m. and the concert did not follow the will of the council,” Caserta told the Mercury News.

So, the 49ers/ManCo get it right?  Maybe not.

Here’s what two top executives told the Mercury News.

“Lange and Mercurio also said that the stadium did not receive a single complaint on its phone and email hotlines Wednesday night.” 

Bob Lange is vice president of communications for the 49ers.  Jim Mercurio is vice president of stadium operations and the venue’s general manager.

Really? Maybe somebody needs to plug in the phone and check the spam filter. And maybe they ought to check all the negative feedback on social media.

We speculated a month ago, that the 49ers were getting their football operation in order when they cleaned house and brought in John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan. But they need to do same with the non-football side of the office. This event, and their reaction shows everyone why.

While U2 delivered a stellar performance, the 49ers clearly fumbled the ball on this event.