11/05/24
November 09, 2006
49ers ready to leave heart stadium in San Francisco: 49ers owner John York told San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom the team will pass on building a new stadium in San Francisco and may move to suburban Santa Clara. The 49ers and San Francisco officials had been discussing collaborating on a privately financed stadium at Candlestick Point in an effort to boost the city's bid for the 2016 Summer Olympics.
This sounds like it could be one final push to twist the city's arm into a better deal or help with the infrastructure expenditures. No one in SF wants to lose the Niners to Santa Clara - there's too much pride at stake. Zachaweenus, moving the team to Santa Clara is a big deal to the residents of San Francisco. No city likes to lose its team, even if it is still in the general area.
posted by lex2000 at 11:57 AM on November 09, 2006
No city likes to lose its team, even if it is still in the general area. I don't think you were in St. Louis in the 80s. I'm pretty sure 90% of us would have put down the deposit on the Ryder trucks to move Bill Bidwell and his sorry band of jackasses out of town.
posted by wfrazerjr at 12:12 PM on November 09, 2006
"Now the team is seeking to build a new stadium in Santa Clara, near the Great America amusement park and the Santa Clara Convention Center." The future of sports entertainment. Bring the kids to the game, stick around for the rides.
posted by gradys_kitchen at 12:16 PM on November 09, 2006
"Now the team is seeking to build a new stadium in Santa Clara, near the Great America amusement park and the Santa Clara Convention Center." It also means big savings for Great America, as hiring clowns would be redundant with the 49ers nearby.
posted by wfrazerjr at 01:31 PM on November 09, 2006
Remember, Bob Kraft went so far as to announce a deal to move to Hartford in order to wrangle funds for the construction of Gillette Stadium.
posted by Venicemenace at 01:32 PM on November 09, 2006
Putting aside all of the financial issues -- Candlestick Point is just a lousy location. Being on the S.F. Bay the wind is always blowing and it is cold and damp. Add to that the fact that there is a single freeway (101) that serves the area of Monster Park, creating hours long congestion before and after every event, and you get the idea that a new facility anywhere else would be an improvement. I know the "cold and damp" line is going to amuse many of the hardcore eastern football fans but as a long time Californian when it gets below 60 degrees I think it becomes a quality of life issue.
posted by Termite at 02:24 PM on November 09, 2006
They should move back to Kezar.
posted by NoMich at 02:28 PM on November 09, 2006
I see wfrazerjr recalls all those years the Rams were the 49ers bitch...... I dislike York even more than I do Bonds, which is saying something, but I can understand completely his frustration with the political hyenas in San Francisco. Just when the Niners think they have a deal or at least some progress, the city goes and changes something, or demands more concessions. It's not just the economics- the Niners have to deal with all of the Nancy Pelosi San Francisco values issues too.
posted by irunfromclones at 02:53 PM on November 09, 2006
It's not just the economics- the Niners have to deal with all of the Nancy Pelosi San Francisco values issues too I thought I had finally escaped the political ads. Not so. I suppose the lack of support for the Candlestick site had less to do with the structure, location and traffic patterns but more to do with the number of illegal immigrants they were planning on employing. I also heard they were going to conduct gay marriages there too. Too bad, TO and Jeff Garcia finally could have gotten over their differences and tied the knot.
posted by gradys_kitchen at 03:46 PM on November 09, 2006
sorry GK, after months of being constantly bombarded by radio, tv and print ads the political rhetoric is just automatic. glad to see you took it in the spirit in which it was given.
posted by irunfromclones at 04:28 PM on November 09, 2006
No city likes to lose its team, even if it is still in the general area. I don't think you were in St. Louis in the 80s. I'm pretty sure 90% of us would have put down the deposit on the Ryder trucks to move Bill Bidwell and his sorry band of jackasses out of town. Yeah and ya sent 'em down to Phoenix where I was living! The only team in the NFL as bad or worse then my Lions! Thanks for nothing! :-)
posted by commander cody at 05:38 PM on November 09, 2006
I don't think you were in St. Louis in the 80s. I'm pretty sure 90% of us would have put down the deposit on the Ryder trucks to move Bill Bidwell and his sorry band of jackasses out of town. No, I wasn't. I was in Indianapolis. And we dealt with a sorry bunch of years, but I never once wanted them to leave. Not once. I've stuck by ever since they left Baltimore, and now loyalty is paying off.
posted by lex2000 at 07:28 PM on November 09, 2006
I see wfrazerjr recalls all those years the Rams were the 49ers bitch...... Actually, I don't. I don't follow the Rams at all, as I didn't grow up with them. As I tell people, my grandmomma moved when I was 12, and I didn't start loving the people who moved into her house -- I stuck with Grandma. Lex, I suggest you look into the Cardinals of the 70s and 80s. It was more than just bad teams -- it was a fundamentally corrupt and monumentally inept organization which cared little, if at all, if the team had a chance. The Cardinals played exactly one playoff game in 28 years, but for the ultimate proof, I give you the team's first-round draft pick in 1977 -- Steve Freaking Little.
posted by wfrazerjr at 08:01 PM on November 09, 2006
Eddie Debartolo still rules.
posted by Tbonez at 08:35 PM on November 09, 2006
I'm sure the South Bay will love the additional traffic (not that they're not used to it. It's just that, rather than dealing with it just on weekdays, they'll have to enjoy it on weekends, too. And Monday Night Football should make the commuters really love their Niners.)
posted by worldcup2002 at 09:52 PM on November 09, 2006
They will most likely move to Santa Clara, which isn't that big of a deal, because their practice facilities are there anyways. The aren't changing the name to Santa Clara 49ers, either, they're just moving the stadium. I think York would rather not change stadiums than change the name of the San Francisco 49ers. The city of San Fran is shooting themselves in the foot: They were asking for way too much secondary money to be paid to the town, when this stadium was San Fran's only hope of getting the Olympic Bid in 2016