Raiders Not Denying Possible Santa Clara Move
By JOE KUKURA
Updated 12:13 PM PST, Mon, Jun 1, 2009
The 49ers totally scored on the opening drive of the whole proposed Santa Clara move Friday, rolling out the financial breakdown of the plan and getting unanimously positive press coverage.
The Niners get to look like the good guys, because they're coughing up $130 million more than originally planned. They have the mayor and council members talking it up as a "great deal" and a "win-win for the city." And they managed to frame it in terms of generating revenue for local schools, a tactic the team also used successfully in getting a stadium bond measure passed in San Francisco in 1997.
The 49ers' roll-out of the Santa Clara stadium plan was so successful that the initial press coverage is treating it like a done deal. It was also so successful that speculation on the Raiders joining the Niners in taking the South Bay plunge started up immediately. The San Jose Mercury News offered number-crunching in Saturday's edition on the fiscal impact of the Raiders also playing in this proposed Santa Clara stadium.
In the days since the plan came out, two East Bay papers editorialized on the topic of the Raiders moving to Santa Clara. And both concluded -- I swear I am not making this up -- that they think the move makes good sense and the Raiders ought to pursue it.
The Oakland Tribune actually published a piece entitled "Sharing Stadium Not Such A Bad Idea". And yes, the Oakland Tribune is referring to sharing a stadium that is not located in or even that close to Oakland. Then the Modesto Bee went so far as to say, "Hopefully, if (the Raiders) get a chance to climb aboard the train to Santa Clara, they'll hop on."
It's no secret that the NFL would like to see the franchises share a stadium. And when asked about it by the Oakland Trib, Raiders' PR executive Amy Trask said, "We are exploring — and keeping an open mind with respect to — all opportunities to create a world-class stadium for our fans and our team, and this includes keeping an open mind with respect to a shared stadium."
I have never heard Raiders' PR executive Amy Trask sound so enthusiastic about following recommendations from NFL league offices.
Al Davis is already on record as being receptive sharing a stadium. Sports Business Daily quotes Davis as saying that he would just "have to know what the stadium is and who's going to pay for it."
This could be a fresh opportunity for Davis to shake down a new landlord in yet another sweetheart relocation deal. If Davis could sucker the 49ers into one great lopsided deal benefit ting primarily him, he could die a happy man. That is, if it were possible for Al Davis to die -- which it is not.
Wasn't long ago that only a yahoo could have seen Santa Clara as home to a major professional sports team. Someday soon, it may be home to two.
Joe Kukura is a freelance writer who at this point wouldn't be surprised if the Seattle Seahawks started talking about playing in Santa Clara.
Copyright NBC Local Media
First Published: May 31, 2009 11:34 PM PST
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