The mayor of San Francisco recently discussed in a television appearance the potential relocation of the 49ers from San Fran.Per SportsBusiness Daily, Gavin Newsom told CSN Bay Area's Chronicle Live that the city the team has inhabited since 1950 wants to "avoid being used as leverage" in the franchise's effort to strike the best possible deal with Santa Clara.
Newsom is convinced that the team wants to move to Santa Clara, and that San Francisco merely is a "back-up site."
He said that the city has "done everything they've asked us, but clearly their priority is not to stay in San Francisco, it's Santa Clara."
And Newsom apparently doesn't believe the team is giving San Fran a fair shake. "They continue to find reasons why our stadium proposal doesn't work," Newsom said. "Today, it's transportation, last month it was other things."
Thus, Newsom thinks the team is looking for a "fresh start" in a new city. Though it's not like the Niners will be moving to Los Angeles or San Antonio or Mexico City, the relocation would mean that the 49ers wouldn't be playing in San Francisco -- and thus another city would be getting the benefit of most of the money that hosting NFL football games generates.
It's a geographical solution. Most of the population of the "Bay Area" doesn't live in S.F. San Jose and the outskirts of it have all that professional sports needs. Population, corporations, transportation, etc... There's a lot of political B.S. behind most of this, but if the Niners were smart, they'd make the move even if they had to give up some benifits for a few years. In the long run, the South Bay is the place to be.
Yes... and we all know all NFL teams with city names play in those cities... Oh, wait, New York Jets/Giants don't... They play in a different state... Don't the Cowboy's play in Arlington? Just to name a few. I don't think having the stadium in the City means that much any more, as long as they are a decent commute...
And lets face it, most of the 9ers fans in the area are from the surrounding areas, not the city itself... there are too many nutcases in the city that think football somehow destroys the environment or hurts animals or something...
Of Course, we could just call them the California 49ers, its not like there are any other football teams in California. ;-)
J/K San Diego fans...
Lets get one thing straight. Newsom & the SF Supervisors haven't come close to meeting what the 49ers were asking them.
I've been a 49er season ticket holder since 1977. The city has allowed Candlestick to become a dump. The commute into & out of Hunters Point is horrendous. All this and the city keeps dancing around really doing anything.
Newsom is a lying jerk.
Or it could be that the Mayor of SF is covering himself in case they leave, making it seem like he never had a shot at retaining them anyay.
Yeah, I know - big shock that a politician would shamelessly cover their ass like that, but it happens (and yes, it was tempting to make a joke about San Francisco in that last sentence, but I'm above that.)
Newsom is slimy pretty boy but he is not the only problem in this deal; the SF Board of Supervisors is an old school politburo and if one doesn't either bribe all of them, contribute to each one's pork programs/campaigns/charites and generally kiss their posteriors, nothing gets done in SF.
The city gave the Giants a sweetheart deal; although the Giants technically privately funded AT&T Park they got "an estimated $25 million in municipal fire, police and garbage services; $33 million for the land itself, donated by the city; $83 million in property-tax exemptions; and on and on.
This has been the Giants' greatest public-relations coup, convincing San Franciscans they were getting a great civic landmark for free when in fact the public was footing 40 percent of the bill — and for a stadium enjoyed primarily by people from San Jose." From Deadspin
The Niners just want the same deal and who can blame them; the have a fist full of championships in SF while the Giants since moving west, have only choked when getting a shot at the ring.
Gavin Newsom is a total asshat. How that guy got elected in the first place is beyond me. Let's hope his bid for Governor follows his morals right down the toilet.
So what you're saying, Newsom, is that the 49ers are leaving.... "whether you like it or not!"
Newsom realizes what thankfully a lot of cities are now catching on to. Spending $100+ million to attract or keep a professional sports franchise is a waste of taxpayer money and an affront to the free market. In some cases a small government subsidy might make sense for some cities, but it's been proven time and again that these deals are almost always duds for the taxpayer.
For all of the uproar about the government creating a moral hazard when it helps people who have been foreclosed upon, you would think that NFL franchises (none of which are really struggling compared to other businesses right now) would be embarrassed to haggle over stadium proposals and public financing.
Maybe stimulus from Obama?????
The 49ers have only one person to blame as to why they never got a new stadium in SF: Eddie D. Back when they were dominating the NFL and BAD teams were getting stadiums (Tampa Bay, Seattle, etc.) Eddie D. Did nothing. Now the 9ers and the economy sucks and no one wants to hear about how awful Candlestcik park is.