This was a column I wrote a few months ago while I was blogging for SFGate. I thought it would be appropriate to run it again in my domain.
49ERS EYE LA?-- DON'T RULE OUT ANYTHING
Let's speculate for a moment that the voters down in Santa Clara approve the 49Er's ballot initiative for the go-ahead in the team's plans for a new stadium.
Great, now the hard part.
Where's the financing? What about infrastructure costs and improvement? What about EIR reports, (environmental impact reports) and so on and so on. Did I even mention potential litigation from various residents to business owners? And what's the economy going to be like? Hell, forget the economy. What's the WORLD going to be like? We know life is different now; how things, all things, our livelihood, our homes, our pocketbook, our collective mass anxiety has been affected in the last few years. God only knows what the future holds five years from now. Which brings me back to the 49Er's and the stadium situation.
I was being optimistic about the ballot deal being approved. My gut says it won't because I believe stadia and stadiums are not priorities on any one's mind these days, given the uncertainty we're all experiencing, economically and otherwise. Even so-called "privately-funded" stadiums involve some sort of civic cost because inevitably, public money is always doled out, always, even in relatively suburban-friendly, business-savvy places like Santa Clara, CA.
Cut to the chase. See, I'm thinking chess-like even though I don't play chess, but me thinks Jed York wants some nice new digs, NOT in SF, but Santa Clara, and if somehow, Santa Clara folks give the thumbs-down to the Yorks, that the Yorks, (Jed and dad) explore "other options."
Like, oh yeah, the nation's second-biggest TV market still WITHOUT an NFL team. You say "no way the NFL wants to lose the 49Er's; the beloved, established, 5-time Super Bowl champs to LA?" I say, you're misinformed and a little naive.
Unlikely? Yes. Out of the question? No. On the table? For heavens sake, YES and let me tell you why. Where does one begin?
First, the Yorks have no allegiance to SF. None. They're from Ohio and the guy who runs the team, Jed, is a Notre Dame fellow.
Look, call me a cynic, but I think the Yorks want nothing to do with SF other than keeping the name, "SF" on the helmet and letterhead. I think it's Santa Clara or bust, and that's where LA comes into the equation.
Sooner or later, the NFL is going to take care of business in LA. The league, which is suddenly being affected, albeit slightly, by the recession, is more than likely a season away from a work stoppage, be it lockout or strike.
They are a multi-billion dollar business with declining revenues and LA represents a BILLION reasons why the league needs a team there. ASAP. An EXISTING team, (forget the word, expansion--not in LA), with a stadium problem, like oh, say the 49Er's. Maybe San Diego. Possibly Minnesota. The Raiders? I'm hearing that they're working hard to either build a new stadium on the Coliseum lot, or sprucing up the old place, assuming of course the A's get their little stadium issue resolved, but that's another story.
As you 415 and 650 folks start huffing and puffing and think I'm smoking something, consider this juicy little news. The Yorks are fed up big time with Candlestick's broken elevators, its dilapidated interior, the weeds literally coming out of the concrete into the stands, the whole nine yards...and i haven't even mentioned the parking lot when it rains. And so on and so on.
They're also not particularly chummy with Gavin Newsom and the political peeps in SF. Remember, this was the franchise that cancelled its kickoff lunch a year ago over a certain incident a year earlier. So yes, there's no lovey-dovey here--like I said, the "SF" might as well be the "SF$" as far as the Yorks are concerned.
Five years is a long time away, but not too long to think like a chess player. Even if a stadium deal is approved, there's a myriad of variables that exist before ground is broke. And even in this economic turmoil, LA has the cash, the badge, the 'big money and Hollywood investors like Casey Wasserman and Steven Spielberg, who has a strong interest in investing in the sports world. (As opposed to a guy named Madoff)
Someday soon, a stadium will take form down south and don't be surprised if the Yorks were interested and wanted to play ball. And don't believe the NFL would stand in their way. Once again, like everything else in this world, it IS all about the money.
So yes, the Niners more than likely will stay in the Bay Area, but NOT in SF. If Santa Clara punts, LA is an option that can't be ruled out and won't.
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Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/lieberman/category?blogid=70&cat=2777#ixzz0ZWFtL1SG
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