By Robert Haugh
Levi’s Stadium had five concerts and featured some of the biggest names in music this past year: Taylor Swift, Beyonce, Karol G, and Ed Sheeran.
And the net revenue was only $4.6 million.
That’s right. The average net revenue per concert was under $1 million.
And the Santa Clara general fund will get … zero.
Yup. Zero.
That’s because any money generated by the stadium events is being held up due to legal actions initiated by the 49ers.
The team has paid little to the City’s general fund since 2018.
Here’s the chart for the City staff report about concerts and events presented at the City Council meeting last night:
Mayor Lisa Gillmor asked City staff why the concerts were anonymous, unlike the reports from past years.
City staff said it was because the 49ers felt the info was proprietary and would hurt their future negotiations.
She also said she didn’t believe the reported numbers were accurate.
City staff said they get the info directly from the 49ers who manage the non-NFL events and don’t have a way to validate.
Councilmember Kathy Watanabe also raised issues with last night’s quarterly financial report.
Watanabe mentioned how Wikipedia showed some impressive numbers for the concerts:
The 49er Five supported the team’s stadium management and were satisfied with zero revenue coming to the general fund.
Some of them attacked Gillmor for raising questions.
Indicted City Councilmember Anthony Becker read from a 2010 campaign brochure saying Gillmor and stadium supporters made big promises for the stadium and lambasted her for being a critic now.
(Becker implied that he was a stadium opponent, although he said he supported the stadium in an interview years ago.)
“Whether I supported the stadium or not is irrelevant,” said Gillmor. “What is relevant is that the public is getting the true success of that stadium, the true financial benefit that we are owed as being the owners of the stadium.”
“But when I see we’re not getting what we should be getting, I’m going to talk about it,” said Gillmor.
City Manager Jovan Grogan tried to mediate the conversation saying that both sides made important points.
But Grogan did acknowledge an important fact about stadium finance.
“I wrote down exactly what the Mayor had said because it’s clear in the documents: ground rent plus performance-based rent equals market-based rent,” said Grogan.
“And if you’re not getting performance rent, then you’re not getting market-based rent.”
The Stadium Authority and the City are not receiving performance rent because the 49ers refuse to pay and have initiated numerous legal actions against the City.
Grogan said discussions about the issue are ongoing, including potential arbitration.
But depending on the outcome of those issues, the City may or may not get performance rent from the team, even though it was promised in the initial stadium contracts.
[…] Santa Clara News Online previously reported, Levi’s Stadium had five concerts and featured some of the biggest names in music this past year: […]
Karen Hardy – you know the math teacher- needs a reality check. In what universe do you find $75 tickets for Swifties?
Karen Hardy sounds like Al Gore in 2000. Did know Karen Hardy invented pants? 😂😂
Dominic Caserta always referred to himself as a civics teacher.
And we all know what kind of perverted civics teacher he
turned out to be. He and Karen Hardy would do well to leave
teaching to trained people who don’t minimize and insult students
or try to get in their pants.
My tax on attendees of all sports and entertainment events in Santa Clara would guarantee that millions of dollars each year, from every event, would flow into the general fund. If my proposal does not make it onto the November 2024 ballot it will prove that city leaders are afraid to impose their will on the 49ers, Levi’s Stadium, Great America and the Convention Center. This proposal is clearly the best choice for Santa Clara as it does not tax residents like all of the other possible ballot measures. Mr. Grogan and city council members I expect vocal support from all of you. Don’t miss this exceptional opportunity to get what we deserve from these venues in a fair and reasonable manner. If this makes the ballot and is presented correctly it will pass overwhelmingly.
Tom, what you’re talking about is an admission tax similar to that in Santa Cruz and San Francisco which is 5% in both municipalities. The problem is, the City of Santa Clara (9.125%) already has a higher tax rate than San Fransisco (8.625%) but with multiple entertainment venues we generate considerably more tax revenue than Santa Cruz does.
An AT has come up a few times over the past 10 years in Anaheim (7.75%) but the City Council decided to pass on imposing another 2% tax on consumers as there were already a whole slew of transient occupancy, restaurant, etc. that drove up taxes on visitors to 15%. The rationale all sides of the discussion agreed upon was (1) Disneyland, Honda Center, and Angel Stadium drew visitors to the area that would otherwise not visit the city and (2) consumers already took a hit in their pocket books from the pandemic, they don’t deserve to take another hit or avoid vising the city altogether because city adminstrators and employee unions can’t manage theirs.
In recent empoyee union negotations its been revealed Santa Clara city employees make a lot more in both salary income and pension benefits than their contemporaries next door in Campbell, San Jose, Sunnyvale, Mountain View, and Saratoga. The city needs to be a lot more thrifty with resident’s money and start negotating harder. The biggest change I see needed is a new business experienced Mayor and smarter Council Members in Districts #1 and #6.
Danny all great points…. sadly this is not about money anymore. It’s about Jed York getting his feeling hurt a few years ago when he was told “No”….he was not allowed to reset his own rent.
Since that day, every action has been punitive against our City.
Say good bye to our City Attorney Mr. Brian Doyle, who I was 7-0 in court against them.
Say good by to our City Manager Deanna Santana. She was pushing to remove the people in charge of watching over the stadium, “The Stadium Authority”.
Still to this day, The Stadium Authority is run by 49ers.
In short, you have the same group of people trying to police itself.
Who thought that was ever a good idea?
“You don’t put the Fox in charge of watching the Hen House”.
Unchecked power is Unchecked Power.
We have tried to get them to show us the books… trouble is, I guess they get to decide which books they show us.
So how do you cook a frog?
How do you steal a City? Pretty much the same method.
Put the frog (City) in room temperature water and then slowly turn up the heat.
If done slow enough the frog (City) will never move. It will just sit there and be boiled to death.
Our City is in HOT water right now….
Vote No on A
Vote No on B
Santa Clara is worth fighting for. My hope is more and more of us get out there and talk to our neighbors.
Burt Field
Question to Burt Field, KW; Howard
What is the relevancy of Becker’s antics. So Lisa backed it in 2010. So what?? Isnt she and KW asking the question; where is the money? That is a good thing for them both to do, right?
And what local media points this out, other than here?
My understanding from the city council meeting last night was the funds are being held in a contingency account until a lawsuit regarding security costs between the 49ers & the city is settled. Still stinks, no matter what!
I am becoming increasingly frustrated, disheartened, disappointed, and disgusted with the immaturity of Anthony Becker. I did not supported KW in 2020 or Chief Nikolai. Now I will support them both. They earned it. I regard posters and readers of this blog as intelligent and caring people. I disagree with a lot of opinions here, but I understand them. The 49ers lied in 2010. People like my nephew; soccer parents were lied to on many occasions by the 49ers. Becker continues to insult and rhreaten people in Santa Clara. Mr Vartan and Mr Field are examples as well as the Mayor if Becker’s of people insulted by this joke of a council member.
Kirk is not a fan of mine, but I will say he has contributed much to the city. It is true. Truth is a universal constant. People who reply here may be wrong; but they do care about their city. It is true. Becker is a insencere fake.
Yes, that’s correct, Mary. And then there is the $8.8 M that was supposed to go to General Fund last year that is also tied up in that same legal contingency fund. $13.4M that could help City deficit and community needs is being held hostage by ManCo. hoping they can claim some (or all) for their legal expenses! Santa Clara pays its bills. There is no good reason to unfairly tie up money that belongs to our City.
https://www.mercurynews.com/2023/09/25/levis-stadium-made-8-8-million-in-non-nfl-events-last-fiscal-year-santa-clara-will-get-0/
Dear Community,
It seems that the City of Santa Clara is DANCING WITH THE DEVILS PALE MOON LIGHT.
That is, all of the night concerts revenue has been stolen by a MASTER CROOK!!!!
Like I said, I am mot giving a single Penny to the 49ers.
No Clothers
No Bumper Stickers
No HATS
No Cardboard Signs
No window flags
NOTHING
I have found that in San Jose, if you hit Developers in the pockets book, they usually see you point of view.
In Community Spirit,
Danny Garza