49ers

After Loss Of $30M In Tax Funds, Rest Of 49ers Stadium Funding In Question

Published June 26, 2012

Following a "sudden $30 million loss of tax funds," the 49ers and Santa Clara leaders yesterday said that they "would not slow stadium construction even as they scrambled to figure out how the cut could affect the rest of the money needed" to build the team's new stadium, according to Mike Rosenberg of the SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS. While the money is "a tiny fraction of what's needed for the $1.2 billion stadium, it served as the initial building block to fund the rest of the project." The tax funds were "used to secure up to $950 million in bank loans, which capped the team's decade-long saga to finance a new home field." If the loans "disappear or shrink, it could delay the project -- or worse -- just months after a festive groundbreaking" in April. The 49ers and lead lender Goldman Sachs "declined to say Monday how the tax loss could affect the rest of the money earmarked for the stadium." The NFL said that it was "too soon to know whether the move would impact the league's $200 million financial commitment." 49ers CFO Larry MacNeil said, "This is not going to stop the stadium project. It's going to get built" (SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS, 6/26).

READY TO RUMBLE: CSN Bay Area’s Matt Maiocco said, “(The 49ers) haven’t responded officially, but they’re expecting that money, so they and the city of Santa Clara are on the same side of this one. If the county of Santa Clara doesn’t back down, then expect a legal fight.” The 49ers “are on the hook for any cost overruns,” so the team “would have to absorb” that $30M. CSN Bay Area’s Barry Tompkins added, “I do think this thing is going to end up in a court of law.” The Santa Rosa Press Democrat’s Lowell Cohn said, “If the 49ers sue and bring this to a court of law, it’s a bad look. They shouldn’t do it. ... It’s less than three percent of the money for the stadium. They should let it go and not sue” (“Chronicle Live,” CSN Bay Area, 6/25).