Are New Stadiums Worth It?

by Jeremiah Tittle

After a lot of grassroots organizing and countless hours trying to battle the miseducation campaigns waged by the San Francisco 49ers, Santa Clara Plays Fair came up short in trying to convince the people of Santa Clara – led like sheep to the slaughter at the polls earlier this month – that putting a new stadium in downtown Santa Clara would bankrupt the city or at least its taxpayers.

According to one of the organizers, the 49ers spent what one San Jose State poly sci professor called a ‘crushing’ amount of money. San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom said it was the most spent per voter in the history of the U.S. – in excess of $300 - and that the 49ers blacklisted both he and Santa Clara residents from telling the other side of the story on local TV and radio airwaves leading up to the vote.

Now that the Santa Clara voters have approved measure J which would clear the way for Candlestick Park’s destruction with an eye toward downtown Santa Clara as the new site for a stadium, loads of articles have suddenly appeared in the media regarding the risks to Santa Clara – the risk of seat licenses and naming rights particularly.  SCPF has been trying to get that info into the news for an entire year but the media turned a blind eye. Now that the 49ers won, reporters are coming out of the woodwork to speculate on how risky the funding is for this project.

The day after the election, the San Jose Mercury News published a correct pie chart of the stadium construction costs that looks like the SCPF pie chart (numbers all come from the Term Sheet).  They should have been publishing that all along.

An additional hinderence is the lawsuit filed by Great America (Cedar Fair).  The city is trying to breach its contract with the company to lease the same piece of property to the 49ers.  The city doesn’t want to give them a rent reduction even though they must close on game days.  Maybe the good people of Santa Clara have an ally.  Or maybe there will be a settlement and the green ‘all systems go’ light will stay shining brightly.

Our friends at Santa Clara Plays Fair are  going to try to hold the city and the NFL team to its words, keeping the campaign promises in the final document. They made more promises than a politician the day before a primary – that conflict with the Term Sheet, mind you, which is non-binding.

Time will tell if these efforts to hold the city of Santa Clara, the city of San Francisco, the NFL, and the 49ers accountable. Rest assured, the good people at Santa Clara Plays Fair will continue to hold them accountable every step of the way, and Sports Fans Coalition supports their efforts 100% understanding that unchecked power will lead to abuse.

Jeremiah Tittle is the Managing Editor of SportsFansCoalition.org. Reach him at Jeremiah@SportsFansCoalition.org.