By Robert Haugh
According to Stand Up for Santa Clara, the 49ers last paid the City’s general fund only about $9,000 in 2018.
That means they haven’t paid anything for the last four years. Zero. Wow.
The grassroots organization has put up a new website called StadiumDebt.com to show their work.
The website uses official court and Stadium Authority documents to make its case.
There’s an “Exhibit J” that was a court document. It was created by the financial consulting firm Keysar Marston hired by the City.
Exhibit J shows that the non-NFL event income was projected to be $44 million from the stadium’s opening year to the present.
But only $11 million has been received by the City’s general fund.
SUFSC calls the $33 million difference the “Stadium Debt.”
The site shows charts from Stadium Authority budget documents to make its case. And it has a link to download the official document.
We knew the team with the 49er Five were screwing the City, we just didn’t see clearly how much until now.
Editor’s Note: The 49er Five are Councilmembers Anthony Becker, Raj Chahal, Suds Jain, Karen Hardy and Kevin Park.
Jed York spent $3 million in November 2020 to elect Becker, Jain and Park. They were previously 0-6 in Santa Clara elections. Chahal and Hardy have received gifts from the team recently without reporting them and have received approximately $1 million for their elections this November.
The 49er Five meet with the team on an almost weekly basis and have voted to help the team win millions of dollars in concessions from the City since December 2020.
[…] fact that the team hasn’t paid a dime to the City’s general fund in four […]
Between 2014, when the stadium was first opened for business, and 2019 the ManCo cut outstanding debt nearly in half from $653 million to $343 million – that is a tremendous pace! Just like a mortgage, it’s expensive in the beginning but a few years after paying down principal it becomes a lot more affordable as income increases.
During that same period, there was also a lot of bickering about late night events which resulted in entertainment superstars cancelling concerts. In 2020 the pandemic shut down all revenue opportunities, we don’t have to look very far to know that. The two eye-charts above are easily understood if there is real context behind them. And nice try insinuating that police, fire, parks & recreation, and libararies are underfunded when everyone knows they are not. Levi’s Stadium is an entertainment venue, the City Council and city residents need to understand that in order for it to produce profit it needs to generate big ticket draws like the two Taylor Swift and the Jay-Z/Beyonce concerts. Of the 12 non-NFL events in 2018-2019, three were soccer, three were college football, and three consisted of Stadium Links, high school football, and a Monster Truck Rally. This is Silicon Valley, not Odessa, TX, or Dothan, AL. Ed Sheeran is coming in September, keep booking those type events and and revenue will increase.
Nice spin! Not quite as peaches and cream as you make it sound. Taylor swift was a money loser because poor planning (or greed) by stadium manager booked a Friday night concert after the Saturday night concert “sold out”. Friday night was a bust and all profit from Saturday was blowing in the wind. The college football games were all money losers except for the 49ers because they have the revenue from suites. Brian Doyle the city manager and the Finance director were doing a great job at pointing out all the irregularities and the issue with late night concerts. The 49ers AGREED to the curfew! But like all their broken promises they pulled a bait and switch. Started crying they couldn’t book anything because of the curfew. Cry me a River!!
Thank God the City had a good star team (including Brian Doyle) fighting the rent reset issue otherwise there wouldn’t have been the extra $$$ to pay down the loan!
The way the 49ers manager treats Santa Clara we might as well he Odessa, TX! They think we’re stupid. Well obviously 5 of the Councilmembers are and have made some stupid votes to help the 49ers. Did you read the Grand Jury report and concerns about the funding the City will have to pay to prepare for FIFA in 2026? No one is bringing that up but Karen hardly keeps talking about how she and Becker brought it to Santa Clara. Looking at pictures and listening to Becker brag you have to wonder how many brown act violations were committed!!
So keep talking Read The Whole Report. You are a troll and don’t know what you’re talking about. The 49er 5 and stadium management need to be FIRED! But for good cause!! Not like what they did to Santana and Doyle and are now trying to do to our Mayor Lisa Gillmor. Go home and REALLY read the report and listen to council meetings instead of whoever is whispering in your ear. There are 2 sides to every story and you obviously have been fed a lot of baloney!
@ Stuart: you really don’t get it. Hopefully there are many business and financial minded voters in Santa Clara because you are not.
Firing any part of the stadium management wouldn’t help the cause. There is a huge $1.6 billion event center that needs to generate revenue. Neither the past city council, current city council, or future city council will have anything to do with sourcing entertainment. If we look the 10 most lucrative football stadiums in the U.S., there is a mistake I believe the 49ers and city made and a couple points of optimism. First, Levi’s stadium should have been built with a tensile roof. That would have fixed the lighting problems with San Jose Airport, reduced noise levels, and accommodated year-round bookings. Points of optimism, the stadium is paying down its debt fast and if marketed right can be just as lucrative as other open air stadiums such as Metlife, Broncos, and Bank of America. https://www.therichest.com/sports-entertainment/football-most-lucrative-stadiums-usa/
Becker is late no 460 form!!!!!!
Late
Late
Late
The consultant bashing Lisa Gillmor for the 49ers runs a company called CRIMINAL,!!!! CHECK THE 460 !!! 49ers hiring CRIMINAL
No, hannig did something else. Didnt he??
Whoa! Anthony Becker’s lap dog J. Byron Fleck seems to incite insurrection… “Keep the powder dry. That day is coming.” What the heck? 1st Translation: “Powder dry” means keep your GUN powder dry; prepare for gun violence. 2nd Translation: “That day is coming,” which must mean a day of insurrection, revolution, or worse. While I understand J. Byron Fleck’s phraseology, I abhor a weak, cry baby Becker claiming “words” on this site “hurts him.” Call Becker a wambulance!!!!
This is why we cannot have the 49ers run our city. See what the San Jose Mercury News has to say.
https://www.mercurynews.com/2022/10/27/opinion-36-49ers-santa-clara-election/
Who are you? Full name. Why (what) are you hiding?
1995, Byron Fleck brought before Commission Review for accusing Geoff Goodfellow for taking bribes.
Now Fleck is endorsing a candidate for Mayor who approved a settlement low enough for the 49ers to spend 4 million on his election claiming the 49ers will be made to the city more.
He must of switched to Gilbey’s instead of BOMBAY.
I have no doubt Ted Hannig did not post this.if you have facts to contrary, state so now. Response by you and/or publisher Haugh demanded now.
Thank you for your anticipated courtesies and cooperation.
Sigh. This “J. Byron Fleck” has for the longest time demanded persons to reveal their “name.” Why? I observe that he cannot attack the content of a post and its ideas, but rather would attack a person’s identity. Identify politics for sure. We all learned in Santa Clara’s high school his type of argument: Ad hominem. Rather than addressing the content of a post, this “J. Byron Fleck” responds with “who are you?”, “where do you live?”, blah blah blah. If someone say something stupid, most Santa Clarans will ignore it… but not “J. Byron Fleck”. That person needs to know names! Sounds crazy to me…….
https://youtu.be/h0YI_eHg3Aw
To fleck
Where we from, the birds sing a pretty song
Hold on a minute here – you’re saying a publicly funded sports stadium doesn’t actually make money for the public??? Well this is Breaking News!
Haha! That’s what those of us (Karen Hardy, Suds Jain, Raj Chalal, many others) leading Measure J opposition tried to tell voters. Guess we didn’t do so well:)). So now the leading stadium proponents (Gillmor/Watanabe) want to dig the hole deeper for residents??? Santa Clara residents took the bait. Next up? 49ers demand renovations/remodel/new stadium. That’s the NFL MO. Keep the powder dry. That day is coming.
Fleck – Measure J was over 10 years ago – times change and so do the issues (foreseen and unforeseen). Stop using this as an excuse to screw Santa Clarans. Your sad corporate power cabal has given $3mm for a sign, stolen operating funds, and given so much more to the 49ers it’s criminal.
Nice try flipping your lies to defend these 49er lapdogs – just what I would expect from your Trump playbook.
XOXOX – Ted
Facts are sticky things. Remember who led you into 49er mess leading to Santa Clara being in 27MM deficit. Vote Becker.
https://youtu.be/SwUen2u6SJQ
Measure J cost the voters $4mm in RDA funds that they would have lost to SC County when SCC clawed back RDA dollars/lands in SC. That is a fact.
Another fact – this current Council has given away more millions that Measure J ever did ($3mm for a sign, $7mm operating expenses, etc.). Bottom line is the Becker is personally responsible for at least DOUBLE the money give-away than Measure J.
Why else would the 49ers dump $3mm into SC elections?? They will continue to receive a nice tidy return on their investment from the city. Fact.
Threshold matter: This is what 58% of Santa Clara voters wanted. They got what they wanted.
More fundamentally, Santa Clara has one pot of money (well, none, actually, since Santa Clara is in $27MM deficit). The 49ers have a pot exponentially larger. Voters signed up for that. Santa Clara can sue to it’s broke. Pick and chose battles. 49ers can quickly spend residents in the ground.
…and yet you defend the very city leaders who have the power to actually do something about this fiscal mess. Instead they choose to protect their greedy corporate sponsor. This is precisely how filth like the Koch Brothers have gained traction in our society.
Raj Chahal led opposition to Measure J???
No.
Oh, note to Fleck Beckie, Ropers and Majeski says we dont have to give our name. They say hi, also you still oee cleaning bill for those empy Jim Bream bottles.