At a fan forum at the Landmark Hotel in London today, an Irish man wearing a Jerry Rice jersey called Candlestick Park an “old-school stadium” while asking a question of NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.
The Commish, clearly well aware that Candlestick is more accurately described as a dump, responded “That’s a nice way to put it.”
Goodell knows the 49ers’ home since 1971 has seen better days. But he’s also aware of the issues that are expected to delay the building of a nearly $1 billion replacement in Santa Clara.
Prior to the forum attended by about 150 fans from at least 12 different
countries, Goodell met with a group of Bay Area and Denver beat
writers. There were no stunning revelations in the 15-minute session,
but Goodell did echo the recent comments of Niners president Jed York
when he said financing for the proposed $937 million stadium in Santa
Clara has been difficult to secure with the specter of a strike looming
in 2011. York said recently that the target date to have a new stadium
built would likely be pushed back at least a year to 2015.
Goodell didn’t sound a particularly optimistic note regarding
negotiations of a new collective bargaining agreement between the owners
and the players’ union — “As I keep saying,
it’s not just about discussions. It’s about progress, and I would like
to see more progress,” he said.
And the lack of progress has made potential
investors wary.
“That’s what they’re concerned about,” Goodell said. “They want to make
sure that the CBA is something that will allow them to finance this. And
that’s challenging in this environment.”
The public would pony up $114 million, but a significant portion would
come from private financing, which has proven difficult to secure given
the current economic climate and the uncertainty regarding a new CBA.
The NFL’s stadium fund, now depleted, helped finance Lucas Oil Stadium
in Indianapolis, Cowboys Stadium and New Meadowlands Stadium, which is
shared by the Giants and the Jets. Without a new CBA in place, investors
don’t know how much assistance there will be from the NFL.
• Singletary said he expects Vernon Davis to play Sunday, but Davis
missed two practices this week, was limited on Friday and showed up as
questionable on the injury report. Davis was limping noticeably in the
locker room following the loss to Carolina.
• Still smarting from his team’s 59-14 loss to the Raiders last week, a
man sporting a Broncos hat and Champ Bailey jersey jokingly asked
Goodell about the NFL’s mercy rule. Said Goodell: “We don’t have a mercy
rule, as you found out.”
• An English fan, asking about the possibility of an NFL team in London,
wondered if such a franchise could attract top free agents or would it
“just be stuck with players such as JaMarcus Russell.”
• The fan forum included a few NFL luminaries as well. Hall of Fame
Steelers owner Dan Rooney, also the U.S. Ambassador to Ireland, and
Morten Andersen, the leading scorer in NFL history, were in attendance.
