Stadium Facts: Measure Jed does NOT Guarantee a Second Team

Dear Santa Clarans,

Stadium Boosters, even on our City Council, do sometimes manage to stretch the truth to the breaking point.  A prime example is the issue of any second team at a subsidized NFL stadium in Santa Clara, as this quote by Councilwoman Lisa Gillmor in today's paper shows:

" Santa Clara City Councilwoman Lisa Gillmor, however, was much more eager about having Oakland's Black Hole partner up in the South Bay.

" ' I would like to think that this improves the odds of the Raiders making a change to Santa Clara," Gillmor said. "Our citizens voted to have a second team...' "

Well, not exactly.  Here's what the Term Sheet appended to Measure Jed actually stated in black and white:

"49ers Stadium Company [and NO Santa Clara Agency] will have the right to enter into a sublease with a second NFL team (“Second Team”), on terms and conditions consistent with and subject to the Stadium Lease..."   (Section 16.1)

...and also:

"Although the terms of any sublease to a Second Team are not subject to approval of the Stadium Authority,..."   (Section 16.3)

Now, any Stadium Booster is welcome to misrepresent who holds the power of the second team lease.  However, any Santa Claran can read the Term Sheet itself, and know the truth.

The real truth is that we did not vote for a second team.  Instead, we gave Jed York the exclusive right to decide for us.

Thanks for all of your support,

Bill Bailey, Treasurer,

Santa Clara Plays Fair.org

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49ers' Stadium Subsidies: Pure Lucre for the NFL in TV Royalties

Santa Clarans,


One of the biggest delusions engaged in by the 49ers' Stadium Boosters is about the money.

The problem is, they won't admit to you that the money goes into the 49ers' very own cash box, and not into the accounts of our city's agencies.

The Real Stadium Facts:  The Ground Lease payable to our city's General Fund is a pathetic $180,000 the first year.  The rent payable to our Santa Clara Stadium Authority at this writing is a paltry $5 million against what will be a Stadium Authority operating tab of at least $20 million and possibly $30 million - every year. 

Remember:  NO operating overruns will ever be reimbursed by the San Francisco 49ers. 

So:  Where is all the money really going?

The bulk of the money to be made in fielding an NFL team - and not in a losing stadium operation - are what are known as NFL Revenues.  The Term Sheet attached to Measure Jed from last June spells this out, and it draws a sharp, black line between those Revenues and the pittance that will go to us or to our Agencies.

A big part of those NFL Revenues, untouchable by us, are television royalties.  To stay abreast of the dollar amounts, one can use a search engine to yield the usual pile of information - but in general, you may count on $4B to $6B per year, divided equally among the NFL owners.

Conservatively, that's over $100,000,000 to Jed York every year - for the broadcast rights alone.  Consider the many other streams of NFL Revenue flowing out of a stadium - like the luxury box dough - and you have a lot of money that Santa Clara Agencies and Santa Clarans are simply not getting.

The 49ers and the NFL are extremely secretive about this.  They really don't want you looking too hard at what they'll be scooping out of a stadium here.

However, just a little online searching will give you a good idea of why NFL teams make money - and why NFL stadiums don't. 


All the best,
Bill Bailey, Treasurer,
SantaClaraPlaysFair.org


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ESPN - alone - Pays $63 million to each NFL team ($2B/32)http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Journal/Issues/2011/01/20110117/Media/Sports-Media.aspx: 

Early, from 2007:

http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Daily/Issues/2007/09/Issue-238/NFL-Season-Preview/NFL-Media-Rights-Deals-For-07-Season.aspx

AdWeek took down their coverage of the NFL's TV money - but they published data from Barclays Capital Estimates showing that the NFL collected $4.04 BILLION from five networks in the 2010-2011 NFL season alone.