SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS RADIO) – The San Francisco 49ers say they've offered the City of Santa Clara millions of dollars to settle a lengthy legal dispute over Levi's Stadium management.
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A team spokesperson told San Jose Spotlight on Tuesday that the 49ers and Santa Clara officials were "in discussions ... that would inject millions directly into the general fund and avoid millions in future legal fees" after the outlet obtained a document offering $3.3 million to the city.
Rahul Chandhok, the same 49ers spokesperson, told the San Francisco Chronicle later on Tuesday that the team spoke with interim city manager Rajeev Butra and interim city attorney James Sanchez about a possible settlement. The outlet obtained a June 30 email Sanchez sent to city officials about the team’s proposal.
Butra and Sanchez replaced Brian Doyle and Deanna Santana, critics of the team's stadium management whom the city council voted to fire within the last year. Five Santa Clara City Council members who frequently meet with the 49ers about stadium issues voted to remove Doyle and Santana, and 49ers CEO Jed York spent millions backing three of those officials – and a fourth candidate who lost – in the 2020 election.
The 49ers sued Santa Clara in 2019 over the city council's vote to remove the team from managing non-NFL events, which the city initiated after alleging it found evidence that the city withheld $800,000 in sponsorship revenue that should've been split with Santa Clara. The city then countersued the team.
San Jose Spotlight procured a document showing the 49ers' offer breaking down as follows: $2 million for stadium public safety costs, $650,000 from the Levi's Stadium Authority's discretionary funds to settle the lawsuit and another $650,000 payment to the city. The document that the San Francisco Chronicle cited said the 49ers offered to pay Santa Clara an unspecified amount to spend on "a particular need such as housing, youth services, etc."
Doyle, who said he hasn't seen a settlement proposal, told the Chronicle that its value wouldn’t be clear without access to the team's finances. He previously accused the 49ers of seeking a "sweetheart" deal allowing them to run Levi's Stadium with little to no financial oversight from Santa Clara.
Anthony Becker, one of the five councilmembers who regularly meets with the 49ers and is running for mayor in November, told the Chronicle on Tuesday that he hadn't heard of the team's proposal. He told the San Jose Spotlight, which published its story first, that his constituents "want us to stop fighting and spending legal fees."
Becker is running against incumbent Mayor Lisa Gillmor, a frequent 49ers critic, telling the outlet he supports reducing her "$27 million deficit and her wasteful spending on outside consultants and lawyers." His comments echoed the 49ers' own to the same outlet.
Chandhok, the 49ers spokesperson, told the outlet that the city has spent $8 million on legal fees and consultants and that "Gillmor has a track record of wasting taxpayer dollars on failed litigation ... driving the city into a $27 million deficit."
Gillmor told the Chronicle that she believes the city has a "very strong case" alleging the 49ers of "financial mismanagement and other legal issues."
"If the City Council does want to conclude with any settlement, it's par for the course with what's been happening," Gillmor told the paper. "They continue to side with the team over the financial interests of Santa Clara residents."
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