By Robert Haugh
On Tuesday, the Santa Clara City Council acting as the Stadium Authority (SA) approved the 49ers selling end zone seat tickets for the upcoming season.
But there was a debate about revenue and whether or not the SA got a good deal.
Mayor Lisa Gillmor argued that the 49ers are charging below fair market value for the end zone seats’ Seat Builders Licenses (SBLs). That’s the fee individuals pay just for the right to purchase tickets.
SBLs go to pay down stadium debt. So that’s good for the Stadium Authority and Santa Clara.
But according to City staff, the SBL price for end zone seats will be lower than the SBL charge for surrounding seats.
Instead, the 49ers will charge a high ticket price. The team keeps the revenue from the ticket price, minus a 10 percent fee that goes to Stadium Authority that’s capped as a portion of the “NFL base price.”
Based on previous staff reports, Gillmor said that the SA will make approximately $1.6 million over 30 years. The team will make an estimated $24-32 million. Wow.
The 49er Five made numerous comments about how getting something was better than nothing.
In previous years, former City Manager Deanna Santana attempted to get the team to increase SBL revenue arguing it would be good for the SA and the City.
She felt she had leverage because the team built the end zone seats in 2018 without getting SA approval or City permits. That was a big screwup.
But when the 49er Five took over in December 2020, Santana lost her ability to negotiate on behalf of the city.
Councilmembers Anthony Becker, Raj Chahal, Suds Jain, Karen Hardy, and Kevin Park meet with the 49ers weekly at times.
On Tuesday night, Hardy and Chahal were accused by former City Attorney Brian Doyle of receiving gifts from the 49ers and not reporting them.
They voted in favor of the 49er deal Tuesday night, 5-2. Gillmor and Councilmember Kathy Watanabe voted against it.
Current City Manager Rajeev Batra negotiated the current deal and had difficulty answering a lot of questions.
You can watch Batra’s presentation here. It’s about 10 minutes. The SA discussion and debate is about 45 minutes.
These 5 council members are thieves to the Santa Clara taxpayers. Not only should they ousted, they belong with Jamie Matthews. These five will look you in the face while they rob you blind. At least Jamie ran away and hid.
Hey Becker!
Remember this campaign promise
and why you should be a
Councilmember?
#32! I am going to stop the
cronyism at City Hall.
I am going to bring transparency
and honesty to our community.
With a new majority we will have
a more open City Hall.
How’s that working for you?
all those meetings with the
49ers? Your judgment is
so brainwashed because of
you gotta’ pay back your debt
to Jed!. Hey, forget the
DT. Move CH to
Levi’s stadium. You and your
majority already spend so much
time there!
You can imagine Becker is on the take. He lives on his council member wage and crumbs and buds from Patty. Karen has a government pension all though her special needs are kicking in. Parks elusiveness speaks volumes. Suds is blinded by more green money. What happened to Raj, he used to have self respect. He must have lost it when we all lost respect for him.
Sad state of affairs for our city leaders.
Don’t be getting too comfy in those big red seats, Jed!
Your puppets are being accused of some very
Improper meetings and events with your management
and then voting on actions that benefit YOU!
All these wrongful actions can cause all of your
Pipe dreams to just float away.
And land your puppets in jail.
Just an FYI, Adam, that if these council majority have committed any violations of the lobbyist and gift ordinance passed by the City, all their actions can and should be repealed.
Feeling very betrayed by our council members. Cannot WAIT for the next election cycle and kick them all to the curb!