49ers ponder Arena Football team for capital

#1
I thought this news was interesting:

http://www.bizjournals.com/sacramento/stories/2006/03/06/story7.html

49ers ponder Arena Football team for capital

Sacramento Business Journal - March 3, 2006
by Andrew F. Hamm
Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal


The San Francisco 49ers are in serious discussions to purchase an Arena Football League franchise, probably for the Sacramento market, in time for the 2008 indoor football season.

Jed York, special projects manager for the 49ers, said an agreement should be in place this spring for the team to purchase an indoor football team. His parents, John and Denise York, own the National Football League franchise.

"We are in serious discussions with (the 49ers) to take advantage of their rights," Arena Football spokesman Chris McCloskey said.
Aaron Sorkin, a spokesman for the 49ers, confirmed the discussions were taking place but declined to elaborate.

"We don't know anything about it," said Jamie Morse Mills, a spokeswoman for Maloof Sports & Entertainment, which owns controlling stakes in Arco Arena, the Sacramento Kings and the Sacramento Monarchs.

The San Jose SaberCats have been encouraging the 49ers to come into the league, in part, to establish a regional rival for the team, said Ramune Ambrozaitis, manager of the general partner for the SaberCats.

The SaberCats would have to waive their 75-mile territorial right for a team in San Francisco or Oakland. Ambrozaitis said the SaberCats would prefer the team be located in Sacramento.

In 2001, the 49ers paid an undisclosed amount for the rights to an Arena Football League franchise. That option expires June 20. The Niners would have to either pay the estimated $20 million franchise fee or forfeit the down payment. Forbes magazine has estimated the San Francisco 49ers' value at $568 million.

If the 49ers don't exercise their option, then anybody would be free to bring an Arena Football League franchise to Northern California, subject to the SaberCats' territorial rights.

While the 49ers would prefer to have a team in San Francisco, Jed York said, the city doesn't have a first-class arena the Arena Football League prefers. The 10,300-seat Cow Palace in Daly City could suffice for the short term but only if plans were on the books for a new San Francisco arena. Oakland is another option. However, the NFL frowns on one team going into another market, even though the Oakland Raiders reportedly have no interest in acquiring an Arena Football franchise.

The Arco option

That leaves Sacramento's Arco Arena. The city's sports fans have consistently filled the 17,317-seat arena for the National Basketball Association's Kings and Raley Field for the River Cats, the Triple-A affiliate of major-league baseball's Oakland A's. The Sacramento Monarchs of the Women's National Basketball Association averaged 8,542 fans per game in 2005 playing at Arco Arena. The SaberCats have averaged about 13,500 per game at HP Pavilion in San Jose.

The 49ers recently commissioned a feasibility study to figure out what it would take to finance a new stadium at Candlestick Point in San Francisco. The 49ers have agreed in concept to help finance construction of a new stadium, estimated to cost between $350 million and $500 million, although no amount has been settled on.

Part of that study includes developing 80 acres around Candlestick Point for commercial use and housing.

The Arena Football League received a reported $18 million for its Kansas City, Mo., franchise that started play this year. The league expects to have new franchises in either Boston or South Florida in 2008, along with the San Francisco/ Sacramento franchise. The 18-team league has also opened expansion discussions with groups in Pittsburgh, Cleveland, San Antonio and St. Louis.

Commissioner David Baker has said the league expects to have as many as 32 franchises sometime in the next decade.

Four NFL teams -- the Dallas Cowboys, Denver Broncos, Atlanta Falcons and Tennessee Titans -- already have majority ownership's in Arena Football franchises and a fifth, the New Orleans Saints, owns the New Orleans Voodoo, which suspended operations after Hurricane Katrina. The Arena Football agreed to give NFL franchises first rights to their local markets for a nonrefundable down payment.

Staff writer Kelly Johnson contributed to this report.
 
#2
I have always said Sacramento needs an arena team. I think it would be a great fit here. Who knows maybe they help pay for some of the new arena.
 
#4
Theres an arena team down here in Kansas City (KC Brigade). They are really fun to watch. When I got the news about our indoor football team I thought nobody would go to the games. I was wrong!!!! People wear Brigade stuff here just as much as they do Chiefs or Jayhakws gear! Their games have really high attendances too.
 
#6
I wonder if they'll be called the Sac Attack again...



My dad ended up with front row seats the year they were in Sacramento. I saw a couple of games and it was pretty entertaining. I would enjoy watching a few games assuming the price isn't insane.