Blogs

York Lends Support to New Scholars Gala

On June 2, 49ers President and CEO Jed York will join other prominent Bay Area leaders in supporting the creation of a sustainable economy in Southern Sudan.

York and other Bay Area intellects, athletes and entrepreneurs will lend their support to the 2011 New Scholars Gala at the Stanford University Club in San Francisco, a charity event that focuses on rebuilding Sudan.

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Montana Stops By to Visit

Before Joe Montana headed to Dallas to take part in Super Bowl festivities, he had something waiting for him in Santa Clara – none other than his Edward J. DeBartolo Sr. San Francisco 49ers Hall of Fame blazer.

The 49ers Hall of Fame quarterback visited team headquarters Tuesday night to chat with team President and CEO Jed York and pick up his special item.

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Jed York Hosts VIP Event at 49ers Camp

Team President and CEO Jed York is hosting an exclusive event on Thursday in conjunction with the Churchill Club to discuss the role of technology in sports and other important 49ers-related topics. Tickets for the private event held at team headquarters in Santa Clara are still available and can be purchased by clicking here.

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Rice Inducted Into Hall of Fame

CANTON, OH – Team owner John York described the night well.  ”When you put Steve Young, Joe Montana and Jerry Rice together on stage…that’s what makes it great to be a Forty-Niner,” he said.

The current members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame welcomed seven new members to their elite fraternity on Saturday night at Fawcett Stadium.  The 2010 Class adds several elite names of its own.  Russ Grimm, Rickey Jackson, Dick LeBeau, Floyd Little, John Randle and the NFL’s all-time leading rusher Emmitt Smith, were joined by the league’s all-time leading receiver, Jerry Rice.

Rice, always  concerned with fashion, told the media earlier in the week that he made sure he had his gold jacket tapered.  With the same approach he took to his sharp looking uniform during his 20-year career, Rice had to look the part as he went into the Hall of Fame.

“I made a mistake tonight, I have a blue and a black sock on tonight,” Rice told the crowd as he took the podium. “Just joking guys!”

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2010 State of the Franchise Live Blog

The Santa Clara Convention Center will soon be packed with Faithful fans, eager to hear from Jed York, Mike Singletary and Trent Baalke at the 2010 49ers State of the Franchise.

The hour-long event hosted by team radio play-by-play man Ted Robinson, will allow fans to hear directly from the 49ers President/CEO, Head Coach and Vice President of Player Personnel all in the same night.

The live webcast can be seen on the 49ers.com home page, but for those without internet, or unable to watch tonight’s proceedings, follow along as I update this blog with highlights from the evening.

We’re almost 30 minutes away from the start of tonight’s State of the Franchise event. Fans are lining up outside to get the best seats in house.

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Submit Questions for 2010 State of the Franchise

With the 49ers 2010 State of the Franchise event just a day away – make sure you’re involved – even if you’re unable to attend!

You can log on to 49ers.com to watch the live webcast which begins at 7:00 p.m. PT on July 27, or if you’re away from a computer, get your live updates by following the San Francisco 49ers on Twitter.

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York Answers More Stadium Questions

Jed York was so immersed in the plan to build a new stadium, the 49ers President and CEO went door-to-door in several Santa Clara communities to spread the word on the finer details of the project.

On Wednesday, York explained some of the experiences he encountered in fielding questions from the local media over a conference call.

York’s hands-on involvement was a matter of him wanting to better understand the concerns of local voters, and also ease them of those issues by stating the facts that were involved in the proposed project.

York listened to the apprehensions and tried to alleviate them as he saw fit.

In one circumstance, York encountered a local voter who simply refused to support the project because of his allegiance to the Dallas Cowboys.

York didn’t let the resistance stop him.

He simply informed the voter of the all the benefits that would come along with a new stadium. But in the end, York thought it would be best to have the words come from a high-ranking official within the Cowboys organization.

York figured, who better to explain the benefits of a world-class facility, than someone with the Cowboys, who have already hosted several marquee events in their building in just one year of operating.

York explained the unique encounter.

“There was a voter when I was out canvassing that wasn’t going to vote for the project because he was a Cowboys fan. I didn’t get Jerry on the phone but I called some of the other guys I know at the Cowboys trying to get Jerry (Jones), Stephen (Jones) or Jerry (Jones) Jr. to talk to the guy. He wasn’t home when we went back so, unfortunately, we couldn’t have anyone talk to him. But, I think it shows how all of the owners and all of the teams in the league are pulling for us to get a stadium done and take their time to talk to one individual voter. Because it’s very important to make sure that people get out there to vote and I think the people spoke loudly last night that they wanted a stadium.”

Here’s the transcript of York’s conference call. You can listen to the audio on 49ers.com as well.

On whether it is still an option to build the stadium on the larger parking lot or are they committed to the smaller lot:
“The environmental impact report allows us to do either. We’ve looked to the smaller lot based on Cedar Fair and Great America’s concerns. Actually, as we got into it, we like the site a little bit more probably because of its proximity to the training facility. I think that makes for a better experience for our players, not just on game days, but on the other days when they are just here practicing.”

On whether there will be more negotiations with Cedar Fair about access to the bigger parking lot:
“I’m sure that will be part of the discussion. We want to make sure that we have a project that we know the voters approved before we get into the real serious negotiations and I think those will start soon.”

On whether the 49ers or the City of Santa Clara can get out of this agreement if they want to:
“They can, but the binding agreement is more in terms of political speak, that this is binding in that you can’t overturn this. That’s why you wait until you have a certified EIR [Environmental Impact Report], but the reason that you wouldn’t move forward was if you don’t have financing, if that falls through.”

On how the stadium will be financed from here on out:
“Yes, I think we’ve been pretty clear with all of our work that there’s going to be three pieces of financing. Obviously, the stadium, authority, which will be selling naming rights, they’ll be selling concession agreements, stadium builder’s licenses. You have the investment from Santa Clara where you’ve got money coming from the redevelopment agency and you’ve got money coming from the hotels and then you’ve got the 49ers who are responsible for – and the NFL – that are responsible for close to $500 million and that is looking at the NFL financing and it’s looking at the financing that the 49ers can get on their own. I think the thing that people need to understand on NFL financing, the G3 [stadium finance] program doesn’t exist any longer, but the precursor to the G3 program, the club seat waiver is still available. And I think you’ve heard from [NFL] Commissioner [Roger] Goodell, that he wants to support stadiums going forward. Obviously, we are looking at extending a collective bargaining agreement now. I assume that will be a piece of the collective bargaining agreement and if not there’s still that club seat waiver program that we can borrow money, using the visiting team’s share of our club seats.”

On how he would classify this in terms of all of the hurdles that lie ahead:
“I keep defining the stadium project as a step function. You do a lot of work and then you don’t gain any ground and then you take a giant step up, like we did last night, with a resounding victory. The next step is working on the financing plan and that will be our main focus over the next year and a half, two years, so we can put shovels in the ground in January of 2012.”

On how the spending is impacted relative to football operations:
“I think they are two very separate pieces. Trying to win on the field and trying to build a new stadium are not the same. It’s a different budget. We have a budget for what our player compensation is going to be and I think we’ve shown we want to make sure we extend our younger players. We want to make sure we go out and add the right free agents and we are going to continue to do that. Playing at Candlestick hasn’t held us back from going out and signing our own players and going out into the free agent market and bringing in guys that we think can put us over the top and get us back to another Super Bowl.”

On whether he’s heard from other owners across the league:
“I’ve gotten a lot of emails, texts and calls from folks. I think it’s a very, very big day, not just for the 49ers, but for the NFL. When you look at how difficult it is to build a new stadium anywhere in this country, having a 60-40 win on a public vote is huge and I think owners are very excited for us and I think they are very excited about adding the first new stadium in California in three or four decades.”

On whether there were any new stadiums they paid close attention in terms of design and getting the measure passed:
“There were a lot of stadiums that we looked at. Not just football, but we looked at a lot of baseball stadiums, a lot of arenas, a lot of soccer stadiums. We are trying to find what works best from a fan’s standpoint. So, there isn’t one particular building that we looked at, but we like some of the design elements of stacking suites on one side of the building, to really make access easier for all of your fans. This way you can have a more sustainable building and better sight lines from the upper deck, so you can really make sure that fans are having a great experience when they are coming to a ballgame. From a standpoint of who have we looked at for the overall project, we’ve looked at everybody for help and guidance because anybody that’s been through it, they’ll tell you that each stadium deal is unique, but there’ s a lot of things that you can learn from wins and missteps in all of these projects.”

On whether there is a price for the SBLs and when that information will be released to fans:
“We’re still working on that and there are a lot of different variations that we’re exploring right now. At this time, we’re not releasing that information. But, there’s a lot of information on our website, 49ersnewstadium.com, that should answer a lot of the questions that fans have.”

On what stadiums currently have their suites on one side:
“There are two NFL stadiums that have done it, basically because they’ve had too small of a site to be able to build the traditional suite tower, the traditional suites going around. That was Soldier Field and Ford Field. The arena, I believe it’s Phillips Arena in Atlanta that has done this where they’ve stacked all of their suites on one side of the arena. They did that by pure design and they had the full plate to build. When you look at that, I think it allows for a lot better fan access. We’ve talked to the Lions and the Bears and when you go through and see what they’ve done, they would say, if we had just a blank piece of land that we can do whatever we wanted, and for different reasons they couldn’t build everything, that they wanted in their stadium, they love the design of that because it allows you to service your suite patrons in a much better, more efficient way. It allows for all of your other fans to really have unique amenities that otherwise wouldn’t exists.”

On what one of the amenities is and that fans will not have to skip a suite level to get to the upper deck:
“That’s one of the big things. If you don’t have two rings of suites going around the stadium and then a traditional club mezzanine level, we’re able to drop our upper deck by 30-40 feet and bring it closer to the field and that’s just the geometry of building the football stadium. When you look at some of the amenities for the non suite fans, you have much bigger concourses where you don’t have to worry about walking into a suite corridor or where you can’t get through a suite corridor. You’ve got open concourses, you’ve got open views and beer gardens and those types of things. For the suite patrons, it’s a lot easier to get them food, get them service, because all of your suites are centralized in one area. I think it’s very important that you can consume – that’s where you can consume the majority of your energy is in that suite concourse in club seats and those types of things. If all of that is comprised in about one-third of your building, you’re able to be a much more sustainable building, but you’re also able to be sure that you service your patrons. You don’t have to build three or four kitchens. You can build one kitchen and get food directly to those patrons.”

On whether the amusement park will be a major opposition going forward:
“I don’t think it will be a major problem. I’ve had conversations with them in the past and we’re confident we can come up with a resolution.”

49ers.com Election Night Coverage

We have arrived at the American Legion in Santa Clara, site of the 49ers “Yes on J” election results party.  Taylor Price, CSN Bay Area’s Matt Maiocco and I are set up in our “media row” in the back of the room.  Stay tuned to 49ers.com and our Twitter account for results as they come in.  The polls will close tonight at 8:00 pm so we should start getting results in shorty thereafter.

Below is a picture of our setup.

We will also be posting more images, videos, quotes and comments from those in attendance throughout the night.  Stay tuned!

8:15 UPDATE

With 10 of 58 precincts reporting, 61% of the votes counted are yes.  A picture of the first returns, which is being projected against one of the walls, is below.

8:37 UPDATE

I just spoke with the “Yes on J” campaign manager, Brandon Smith.   With the polls showing an early lead for the Yes on J campaign (8,383 votes Yes to 5,295 votes No), Smith was optimistic with the initial returns.

“Being up 16 percent off the first break of the ballots was huge,” Smith said.  ”We didn’t think it was going to be that high so we’re optimistic.  With that said, you never know what the turnout was on the ground.  Unless we lost big at the polls, we’re in good shape.”

Campaign Manager Brandon Smith

Most of these early results are the vote-by-mail ballots.  Stay tuned for more results!

** ALL OF THESE NUMBERS ARE REPORTED BY THE SANTA CLARA COUNTY REGISTRAR OF VOTERS **

Santa Clara Mayor Patricia Mahan does an interview with CSN Bay Area

9:35 UPDATE

There has not been any new updates on the election results from the Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters, but I did catch up with Santa Clara Mayor Patricia Mahan who said she was thrilled for this day to finally arrive.

“It’s been three years of hard work and it’s coming to fruition,” Mahan said. “This is a great night.  It’s sort of a pause to celebrate and hopefully there’s a lot more work to do, but we’re ready for it.”

Like the “Yes on J” campaign manager, Mahan was also pleased with the early returns.

“I’m pretty excited by the results so far,” she said.  ”I’m glad to see it’s such a big margin in favor of the stadium because for me it means that Santa Clara supports this.”

10:05 UPDATE

Team President/CEO Jed York has arrived at the election results party and should be making a speech shortly.

10:4O UPDATE

With 12 of 58 precincts reporting, the lead for Yes on J remains virtually unchanged with a 61 percent – 38 percent lead.

10:45 UPDATE

Jed York just fielded questions from the media at the election results party.  Tonight is the result of lots of hard by York personally.  The 49ers President/CEO campaigned by going door to door, including this past weekend.

“The most common question was probably, ‘Is the name still going to be the San Francisco 49ers?’ and the answer is yes. We’re the San Francisco 49ers,” York said.

York said he also received a lot of questions from residents who were worried their taxes would increase.

“I think that was always the misnomer,” York explained. “What taxes are going up? How are we paying for this? And when you walk people through how a redevelopment agency works, and they understand that this is money that is supposed to spur economic development, they see this is a good use of funds. When they see that the only people really getting taxed are the eight hotels, they understand this must be a pretty good idea if eight local businesses are choosing to put $35 million into this project. There must be a reason to do that.”

Though the initial returns appear good early, there is still much work ahead.

“The next step is to final the tally tonight, and hopefully win the election,” York said.

If the ballot measure passes, York said they would begin construction in 2012 and have the opening kick-off in 2014.

11:50 UPDATE

That’s it for our coverage from the election results party.  We’ll have a lot more coverage on the election results on 49ers.com tomorrow so stay tuned!

Communication Key in Baalke’s Promotion

Just after the 49ers concluded day four of voluntary organized team activities, big news was first reported on 49ers.com – Trent Baalke was promoted to Vice President of Player Personnel. But that wasn’t the only major announcement to come out on Thursday, the team also announced new hires and role changes within the scouting department including the hire of Joel Patten as Director of College Scouting.

Although team president/CEO Jed York and Baalke were out of town attending the NFL meetings in New York and a daughter’s high school graduation respectively, both took time to get on a conference call and take questions from the media.

York fielded questions first on Baalke’s promotion and the changes to the scouting department, in which area scout Matt Malaspina has been promoted to a national scout, area scout Justin Chabot has taken over the Southeast region and Bob Morris has been brought on as the team’s area scout in the South region.

York said Baalke’s strong leadership during the 2010 NFL Draft was key in the organization making the decision to promote the former Director of Player Personnel, who has been with the team since 2005.

“I thought there was great communication between the coaching staff and scouting staff and I think it’s going to continue,” York said.

Baalke also credited the relationships he has inside the building in helping him earn the promotion.

“There’s a lot of good people in this building. That’s what people fail to recognize sometimes. There are a lot of good people on the personnel side, on the coaching side, on the administrative side. So, from that standpoint, I’ve been able to concentrate on the personnel side. That’s my passion, that’s my love, that’s what I want to do.”

Listen to the audio from York’s conference call HERE.

Listen to the audio from Baalke’s conference call HERE.

Jed York to Host MNF Party in San Francisco

49ers President Jed York will be hosting a Monday Night Football “Friendraiser” along with Jack Blair, a Senior Vice President with the San Francisco Giants, on December 7, 2009, at Pete’s Tavern across from AT&T Park in San Francisco.  The event will begin at 5:00 p.m. and go until 9:00 p.m. as those in attendance can watch the Monday Night Football game between the Baltimore Ravens and the Green Bay Packers.

Advanced tickets are $20 and admission at the door is $25.  Tickets are limited so click here to purchase your tickets now.

There will also be a raffle and silent auction during the evening with the chance to win great 49ers and Giants memorabilia.  The grand prize will be a luxury suite to the 49ers final regular season home game against the Detroit Lions on December 27.

All proceeds from the event support the Bayview YMCA’s youth sports programs and community service campaign.