Post by TheShadow on Jan 30, 2007 20:07:01 GMT -5
www.sacbee.com/
A published report said a shared facility had been discussed.
By Matthew Barrows - Bee Staff Writer
The 49ers and Raiders in the same stadium? Not so fast, said the 49ers, who issued a brief statement Monday denying a report they had discussed sharing a home with their cross-bay rivals.
A story in Monday's San Francisco Chronicle said 49ers owner John York and son Jed, who is spearheading the team's stadium efforts, casually approached the Raiders this past season about jointly playing at a new facility in Santa Clara.
Jed York said in the story that no contact had been made, and Monday the team issued a statement saying it is "not in discussions with the Oakland Raiders concerning the sharing of a new stadium."
"The 49ers remain committed to working with the city of Santa Clara as our primary site for a new 49ers stadium and with the city of San Francisco to identify a potential viable alternative site for that facility," the statement read. "As we move forward, we will, of course, keep the NFL and other teams apprised of our progress."
Unable to build a replacement for aging Monster Park in San Francisco, the 49ers in November turned their attention to the South Bay community of Santa Clara for a proposed $800 million stadium that would be completed by 2012.
The proposed site is across the street from the 49ers' headquarters and has the transportation advantages -- it's adjacent to three major highways and light rail -- the alternatives in San Francisco lack.
The Raiders' current lease at McAfee Coliseum, meanwhile, expires in four years. A stadium in Santa Clara actually would be closer to the Raiders' current facility -- about 33 miles -- than it would Monster Park, which is more than a 40-mile drive.
The only NFL teams that currently share a stadium are the New York Jets and Giants, who last month received a combined $300 million loan from the league for a new joint stadium set to open in 2010 and expected to cost between $1.1 billion and $1.2 billion.
Jed York did not rule out a similar arrangement in the equally expensive Bay Area, but in an e-mail Monday said the teams have yet to broach the subject.
"We haven't talked about it," he wrote. "We need to move forward with the Santa Clara feasibility study before we could even think about adding more complexity to the stadium process."
A published report said a shared facility had been discussed.
By Matthew Barrows - Bee Staff Writer
The 49ers and Raiders in the same stadium? Not so fast, said the 49ers, who issued a brief statement Monday denying a report they had discussed sharing a home with their cross-bay rivals.
A story in Monday's San Francisco Chronicle said 49ers owner John York and son Jed, who is spearheading the team's stadium efforts, casually approached the Raiders this past season about jointly playing at a new facility in Santa Clara.
Jed York said in the story that no contact had been made, and Monday the team issued a statement saying it is "not in discussions with the Oakland Raiders concerning the sharing of a new stadium."
"The 49ers remain committed to working with the city of Santa Clara as our primary site for a new 49ers stadium and with the city of San Francisco to identify a potential viable alternative site for that facility," the statement read. "As we move forward, we will, of course, keep the NFL and other teams apprised of our progress."
Unable to build a replacement for aging Monster Park in San Francisco, the 49ers in November turned their attention to the South Bay community of Santa Clara for a proposed $800 million stadium that would be completed by 2012.
The proposed site is across the street from the 49ers' headquarters and has the transportation advantages -- it's adjacent to three major highways and light rail -- the alternatives in San Francisco lack.
The Raiders' current lease at McAfee Coliseum, meanwhile, expires in four years. A stadium in Santa Clara actually would be closer to the Raiders' current facility -- about 33 miles -- than it would Monster Park, which is more than a 40-mile drive.
The only NFL teams that currently share a stadium are the New York Jets and Giants, who last month received a combined $300 million loan from the league for a new joint stadium set to open in 2010 and expected to cost between $1.1 billion and $1.2 billion.
Jed York did not rule out a similar arrangement in the equally expensive Bay Area, but in an e-mail Monday said the teams have yet to broach the subject.
"We haven't talked about it," he wrote. "We need to move forward with the Santa Clara feasibility study before we could even think about adding more complexity to the stadium process."