NFL Wantes Raiders/Niners To Share Stadium
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With both Bay Area NFL teams looking for and failing to find new stadiums in a rough economic climate, the NFL is asking the 49ers and Raiders to discuss joining forces to construct a new venue to house each team.
“The NFL has encouraged us to explore the possibility of a two-team facility to address the economics” of building a new stadium, 49ers president Jed York said in an interview with MediaNews this week. “I think it’s important you look at all of your options. If that’s a possibility, that’s certainly something we’ll explore.”
There is a blueprint available for a joint stadium venture. The Jets and Giants are currently building a new stadium, set to open for the 2010 season, at the Meadowlands in New Jersey. The total cost, $1.6 billion, is being split between the teams and the venue will use video technology to cover the facility in each team’s colors and logos when they are hosting games.
“It just makes much more economic sense for two teams to be in one building, if you can get through, well, we call it the ‘Blue’ and the ‘Green’ issues,” said Giants CEO John Mara. “Out there, it would be the ‘Black and Silver’ and the ‘Crimson’ issues.”
The NFL provided $300 million to help the teams build the stadium. That’s more than they usually provide for new construction, but the shared burden as well as the enhanced revenue provided by doubling the home dates made it feasible for the league.
The 49ers have been looking into a stadium site in Santa Clara, which could work for both teams. There are direct rail links from both San Francisco and Oakland and they’ve already done a lot of groundwork in terms of environmental impact studies. Those are for one team, though, and the addition of a second set of home dates could raise complaints from local residents, according to MediaNews.
The Santa Clara project is budgeted at $916 million, and it is difficult to see each team being able to finance a stadium at that cost by themselves. Raiders owner Al Davis is notoriously hard to deal with, something that some see as a stumbling block to any potential partnership, but while the Raiders won’t comment on the deal, specifically, they won’t close the door either.
“There seems to be a perception, fostered in large part by the media, that the 49ers and the Raiders have an adversarial business relationship and that perception is wrong,” said Amy Trask, the Raiders chief executive. “We enjoy working on league business matters with the 49ers and our two organizations have a shared respect for one another.”
If the two teams did join forces to build a stadium in the Bay Area, it would be a blow to Ed Roski’s efforts to bring a team to Los Angeles. The developer recently announced plans to build a stadium in Industry, part of Los Angeles County, and both the 49er and Raiders have been considered potential tenants.
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