Strangely, the 49ers announce the team’s new coach will be a rising star.
Santa Clara is the new home of the 49ers. Why didn’t the team’s original home make a stronger effort to retain them?
Fans of the 49ers in San Francisco will soon be losers, regardless matter whatever team wins the Super Bowl. This is due to the franchise’s departure from the city that has been its home since 1946. The squad is anticipated to kick off in 2014 at a new stadium located 40 miles away in Santa Clara, a sunny city sandwiched between San Jose and Sunnyvale, home to 120,000 citizens and the headquarters of tech businesses. The building process is moving rather quickly.
The 49ers are heading out of town—why? Perhaps to its credit, the city of San Francisco declined to entice its football team with a sweetheart land deal or a financial incentive. Gavin Newsom, the previous mayor, is, however, somewhat to blame. He put years of pressure on the 49ers to construct a new stadium inside a radioactively contaminated, abandoned navy facility. The idea was met with resistance from the team, and the city made no genuine attempts to relocate away from a Superfund site. Meanwhile, Newsom did make a romantic proposal to entice a more occult gathering to San Francisco. Later this year, in San Francisco Bay, the America’s Cup’s 72-foot catamarans will take to the water as the 49ers prepare to depart town.
It’s understandable that the 49ers would like to leave their existing stadium. Little more than a wind-whipped concrete bowl on the fringes of the city to the south, Candlestick Park is one of the NFL’s oldest venues. There are impoverished areas on both sides of it, and there are very few places to go for food or drinks after a game. Its desolate Thunderdome look encourages violent conduct and regular fights in the parking lot, restrooms, and stands.
The 49ers’ decision was also heavily influenced by the South Bay’s fondness of a team that is losing support in San Francisco. However, the team’s migration to the south has roots that go back more than 15 years. Reeling from their recent Super Bowl triumph, San Francisco voters authorized a $100 million bond in 1997 to support the team’s construction of a stadium and retail center at the current Candlestick Point location. However, 49ers owner Edward DeBartolo Jr. resigned from his position that same year in the face of a federal investigation into bribery claims involving a riverboat gaming license. He would ultimately give up his financial interest in the team and enter a guilty plea to a felony. The brother-in-law and sister of DeBartolo took over management of the franchise.
