Post by TheShadow on Feb 2, 2007 23:19:34 GMT -5
www.sfgate.com
Ray Ratto and Nancy Gay, Chronicle Staff Report
Friday, February 2, 2007
(02-02) 10:28 PST MIAMI -- In a piece of bad news for the 49ers,
albeit news they might have known was coming, NFL Commissioner Roger
Goodell said today that the league's stadium-building subsidy program
has run out of money.
Speaking Friday in Miami, where the Super Bowl will be held on
Sunday, Goodell delivered a "state of the league" address. Afterward,
he was asked if it were true that the "G3" funding had run dry. He
said it had, and that the league would have to find a new way to help
teams and cities build or refurbish stadiums. A new stadium can cost
a billion dollars.
The 49ers are trying to plan a new stadium. The team has said that
trying to build it in Santa Clara is its first plan of action, but
there continue to be talks between San Francisco officials and the
49ers about the team continuing to play somewhere near its current
home on Candlestick Point.
Goodell said he is, naturally, concerned about the stadium situation
on the West Bay (he didn't mention any concerns about the Raiders'
under-attended stadium in the East Bay), and he has kept abreast of
the situation. But, he said the league needs to address a lot of
problems, and he didn't indicate many solutions -- and this
stadium-funding problem clearly is one for which he doesn't have a
solution right now. In fact, Goodell said it wouldn't be back on the
table until the intra-ownership fight over revenue sharing and the
ongoing/eternal labor situation are resolved, which is code for "You
fellas are on your own."
The NFL's G3 program has subsidized stadium construction or
renovation, and the loans are repaid with the visiting teams' share
of club-seat revenue once the project is finished.
League observers knew that the program was about out of money. In
December, NFL owners approved a $300 million loan from their G3
stadium fund to help pay for the construction of a new, joint stadium
for the New York Giants and New York Jets.
The stadium is expected to cost between $1.1 billion to $1.2 billion
and will be located at the Meadowlands, the site of the current
stadium. Previously, G3 loans were limited to $150 million per club,
but the Giants and Jets received a 50 percent funding match because
they are in a top-five television market.
Owners also approved a $42.5 million grant from the G3 program to
help renovate Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City.
The combined $342.5 million in grant approvals essentially drained
the G3 fund.
That means the 49ers, the Cowboys and the Vikings, three teams in the
process of planning stadium proposals, might have their projects
delayed until a new funding program is in place, unless they find
another way to come up with a billion dollars.
Ray Ratto and Nancy Gay, Chronicle Staff Report
Friday, February 2, 2007
(02-02) 10:28 PST MIAMI -- In a piece of bad news for the 49ers,
albeit news they might have known was coming, NFL Commissioner Roger
Goodell said today that the league's stadium-building subsidy program
has run out of money.
Speaking Friday in Miami, where the Super Bowl will be held on
Sunday, Goodell delivered a "state of the league" address. Afterward,
he was asked if it were true that the "G3" funding had run dry. He
said it had, and that the league would have to find a new way to help
teams and cities build or refurbish stadiums. A new stadium can cost
a billion dollars.
The 49ers are trying to plan a new stadium. The team has said that
trying to build it in Santa Clara is its first plan of action, but
there continue to be talks between San Francisco officials and the
49ers about the team continuing to play somewhere near its current
home on Candlestick Point.
Goodell said he is, naturally, concerned about the stadium situation
on the West Bay (he didn't mention any concerns about the Raiders'
under-attended stadium in the East Bay), and he has kept abreast of
the situation. But, he said the league needs to address a lot of
problems, and he didn't indicate many solutions -- and this
stadium-funding problem clearly is one for which he doesn't have a
solution right now. In fact, Goodell said it wouldn't be back on the
table until the intra-ownership fight over revenue sharing and the
ongoing/eternal labor situation are resolved, which is code for "You
fellas are on your own."
The NFL's G3 program has subsidized stadium construction or
renovation, and the loans are repaid with the visiting teams' share
of club-seat revenue once the project is finished.
League observers knew that the program was about out of money. In
December, NFL owners approved a $300 million loan from their G3
stadium fund to help pay for the construction of a new, joint stadium
for the New York Giants and New York Jets.
The stadium is expected to cost between $1.1 billion to $1.2 billion
and will be located at the Meadowlands, the site of the current
stadium. Previously, G3 loans were limited to $150 million per club,
but the Giants and Jets received a 50 percent funding match because
they are in a top-five television market.
Owners also approved a $42.5 million grant from the G3 program to
help renovate Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City.
The combined $342.5 million in grant approvals essentially drained
the G3 fund.
That means the 49ers, the Cowboys and the Vikings, three teams in the
process of planning stadium proposals, might have their projects
delayed until a new funding program is in place, unless they find
another way to come up with a billion dollars.