REPORT TO COUNCIL AND STADIUM AUTHORITY BOARD
SUBJECT
Title
Informational Report on Litigation Matters Between the City/Stadium Authority and the Forty Niners, and Third-Party Litigation Matters Arising from the Stadium
Report
BACKGROUND
The City of Santa Clara owns the land on which Levi's Stadium is built. The Santa Clara Stadium Authority (SA) is a public agency formed through a Joint Powers Authority agreement that owns the Stadium and leases it to the San Francisco Forty Niners Stadium Company for holding NFL games. The Stadium Authority has a management agreement with another Forty Niners entity called the Forty Niners Management Company to operate and manage the stadium for both NFL and non-NFL events. The revenue and expenses related to the non-NFL events belong to the Stadium Authority.
The Lease revenue is primarily dedicated to the repayment of the debt incurred to build the stadium and then to provide for various reserve funds dedicated to capital maintenance and end of life expenses at the end of the lease. The Lease also provides for the possibility of performance rent to be paid to the City based upon the success of the management company in booking non-NFL events on behalf of the Stadium Authority.
Since the Stadium's opening in 2014, the Forty Niners have initiated both judicial and non-judicial litigation (i.e., arbitration proceedings) against the City and the Stadium Authority that have had adverse effects on the anticipated advantages of the City's agreement to locate the Forty Niners in a publicly financed stadium in Santa Clara. As demonstrated by the following report, all of the litigation between Santa Clara and the 49ers has been initiated by the 49ers.
The report also includes a brief description of lawsuits brought by third parties against the City and/or the Stadium Authority arising from an issue occurring at the stadium (for example, a class of disabled persons suing the Stadium Authority, alleging that the Stadium is not ADA-...
Click here for full text