In Exchange For Santa Clara Super Bowl, NFL Has Super Demands

In order to get a lot of money, Santa Clara will have to give up a lot of money.

The National Football League wants some solid commitments before the new San Francisco 49ers' stadium in Silicon Valley will host the Super Bowl, according to the San Jose Mercury News.

The city is a finalist to host the football game in either 2016 or 2017, but before that can happen, the NFL wants Santa Clara to agree to a list of demands, the newspaper reported.

The as-yet unfinished $1.2 billion stadium and the surrounded area will in essence be leased to the NFL at a "much cheaper rate," according to city officials. The city must also cough up some tax revenue as well as a formal resolution in favor of hosting the big game, the newspaper reported.

The NFL may also ask that its employees be exempted from paying local sales tax while they are in town, the newspaper reported.

The NFL says such concessions are justified because hosting a Super Bowl brings "several hundred million dollars" in economic activity to an area, the league's spokesman said.

Or does it? The local hotels may be filled, but would they be filled without the NFL in town? And how much would Santa Clara benefit, if the events leading up to the game are in San Francisco, as planned? These questions weigh on Santa Clara officials' minds.

NFL owners will choose between Miami, Houston, or Santa Clara as host in May.