The San Francisco 49ers organization agreed to cough up more money to the City of Santa Clara by settling two lawsuits, but the city bizarrely must still pay for “buffet service” for 49ers fans in the most expensive seats, and there’s a new $4 charge on Levi’s concert tickets.
Your San Francisco 49ers, or rather, their fortunate-son owner Jed York, has been openly at war with Santa Clara elected officials who do not automatically accommodate all his requests. This has led to two lawsuits pitting the Niners organization and the city against one another. But the two parties settled all their lawsuits in a Thursday night meeting, described by the City of Santa Clara in a tweet below that diplomatically declares the end of “long-standing disputes on public safety expenses, buffet costs, and other operational items at Levi's® Stadium.”
News Release: Santa Clara and 49ers Reach Settlement
— City of Santa Clara (@SantaClaraCity) May 24, 2024
Santa Clara Stadium Authority and 49ers reach agreement to resolve long-standing disputes on public safety expenses, buffet costs, and other operational items at Levi's® Stadium.
View the release: https://t.co/lWPAK6kI7v pic.twitter.com/61fKmIbtFB
But there are two interesting replies to that tweet. “Anyone saying this Settlement Agreement is good for Santa Clarans is deceiving the public. The money the team claims the City gets requires repayment. It’s a loan-shark type deal,” someone named Lisa Gillmor declares in response.
Anyone saying this Settlement Agreement is good for Santa Clarans is deceiving the public. The money the team claims the City gets requires repayment. It’s a loan-shark type deal.
— Lisa Gillmor (@LisaGillmor) May 24, 2024
That Lisa Gillmor is not some random troll, that Lisa Gillmor is the mayor of Santa Clara, chastising whichever of her employees wrote the tweet. Gillmor was one of two votes against the deal in a 5-2 city council vote, and the other ‘no’ vote was Councilmember Kathy Carolan Watanabe, who also had words.
I oppose this agreement because it gives the 49ers a discount on public safety costs and hurts taxpayers and makes the stadium less safe! #baddeal https://t.co/Nh1UKlfETv
— Kathy Carolan Watanabe (@IrishKathy59) May 24, 2024
So what are the alleged devils in these details? The City of Santa Clara explains it in legal-ese, but the Chronicle explains it in plain English. The 49ers will now pay $370,000 per gameday for police and security, and the city will have to pay the other $200,000, which is a $30,000-per-game switch in Santa Clara’s favor. But in a move that makes no sense to me, Santa Clara will also have to pay $95,000 per game for “the free buffet service provided to fans who buy the priciest seats.”
And in another settlement item that will displease non-sports fans and Taylor Swifties, the settlement deal tacks a new $4-per-ticket surcharge on non-NFL events at Levi’s Stadium.
Santa Clara’s City Manager insists this deal will benefit the city to the tune of about $20 million over the next two years. "We believe the Settlement Agreement addresses key concerns and provides a fair and advantageous resolution for the Stadium Authority and Santa Clara residents," Santa Clara City Manager Jōvan Grogan said in a statement. "By settling this dispute and restructuring terms in the original agreements that helped bring the 49ers to Santa Clara, we were able to achieve both immediate and long-term financial benefits for the City of Santa Clara.”
But as the Chronicle shrewdly noted last week, that alleged $20 million benefit could be wiped out by expensive World Cup costs. Levi's Stadium will be a 2026 World Cup host site, for which FIFA is paying somewhere between $12 million and $14 million. But the costs could ballon to up to $50 million, with Santa Clara on the hook for possibly $38 million. The city is currently trying to renegotiate that deal.
Image: 49ers.com
