The Santa Clara City Council, acting as the Santa Clara Stadium Authority Board, has authorised the termination of an agreement with the San Francisco 49ers’ stadium management company.
The action calls for new third-party management to assume operations and management of the 49ers’ Levi’s Stadium both for NFL games and non-NFL events.
The council’s latest move to terminate the entire management agreement relates to additional legal concerns it has over the 49ers’ “apparent mismanagement” of the stadium and “potential self-dealing”.
The move is the latest development in a long-running dispute between the council and the 49ers over the management of Levi’s Stadium. In September, the 49ers said they would continue to manage non-NFL events at Levi’s Stadium after city leaders voted to terminate an agreement with the franchise.
The 49ers later filed a lawsuit in attempt to block the City of Santa Clara’s move to terminate the agreement. A team spokesman said at the time that the lawsuit was necessary due to the city’s “complete misunderstanding” of the agreement.
A statement from the Santa Clara City Council released yesterday (Wednesday) read: “The City’s cross complaint in the California Superior Court action is in the process of being amended to allege the new facts with regard to the termination. Meantime, the Stadium Authority and the City of Santa Clara are pleased that these disputes will be heard and resolved in the public forum of the Court. No word on how soon the Court will rule on this latest legal action.
“In September 2019, the Stadium Authority terminated an agreement that enables the Forty Niners to manage non-NFL events at Levi’s Stadium on behalf of the Stadium Authority. Since the Forty Niners filed a lawsuit to dispute the termination, the termination date remains subject to litigation and remains uncertain.
“As a result, the Forty Niners will continue to operate the stadium until these issues are resolved in court.”
Image: Jim Bahn
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