SANTA CLARA — Although Levi’s Stadium raked in $8.8 million in income for non-NFL occasions final yr, no cash from that tranche will go to the town’s common fund on account of ongoing authorized disputes with the San Francisco 49ers.
The staff manages the city-owned stadium for non-NFL occasions, and roughly half of these income sometimes return into the stadium authority — the physique that oversee Levi’s — whereas the remaining are alleged to stream to the town’s common fund to cowl companies like libraries, public security and parks. However that didn’t occur within the 2022-23 fiscal yr that ended March 31, 2023, in keeping with a report reviewed by the Santa Clara Metropolis Council final week.
Throughout that point interval, the stadium hosted seven ticketed non-NFL occasions — six live shows that included Coldplay and Elton John and one soccer match — and 69 large-scale non-ticketed particular occasions, resembling company events.
When trying on the price range earlier this yr, Finance Director Kenn Lee informed the council ultimately week’s assembly that the town’s authorized staff opted to place Santa Clara’s half of the income right into a authorized contingency fund “due to potential liabilities which will happen relying on the result” of arbitration with the 49ers.
The 2 events, which have a prolonged historical past of litigation, are at present in a dispute over public security prices. Final fiscal yr, the stadium racked up $5.7 million in public security prices for 49ers video games, with $4.6 million coming from direct metropolis prices and $1.1 million from outdoors businesses.
The present dispute between the town and the NFL staff is over the cap on annual public security prices. As a result of the precise prices of safety have gone over that cap, there’s been a years lengthy debate over who ought to pay for any overages for soccer video games.
Mayor Lisa Gillmor mentioned she was “involved” that the stadium has traditionally struggled to herald cash for the town.
“We’re benefiting in a small means with some gross sales tax, some small floor hire,” she mentioned. “When it comes to what we had been alleged to get, we’re getting some crumbs. Fortunately our motels are going to profit, a few of our small companies are going to profit, however we had been alleged to get an enormous profit from the stadium.”
Final fiscal yr, the town transferred $650,000 out of the stadium’s discretionary fund into the final fund. The bucket of cash comes from half of the $4 ticket surcharge for non-NFL occasions.
In an announcement, 49ers’ Chief Monetary Officer Peter Wilhelm disputed the mayor’s declare, stating that the latest monetary report was “proof of how well-run and profitable Levi’s Stadium has been.”
“Feedback about efficiency hire overlook the truth that Santa Clara prices its personal stadium among the highest public security prices of any venue within the nation, and that these prices should be coated earlier than distributing efficiency hire to the town,” Wilhelm mentioned. “We’re wanting to resolve that imbalance and offered an answer greater than a yr in the past. Within the meantime, the town instantly advantages from hundreds of thousands of {dollars} in lodge surcharges, in addition to the enhance to the native financial system when guests attend occasions at Levi’s Stadium.”
On the assembly, Councilmember Anthony Becker mentioned he believed the town and the stadium had been “on the right track” due to its skill to pay down money owed.
“I feel that was a quite common sense method that you simply guys did was to be sure to repay your money owed in order that Santa Clarans won’t be caught on the road owing all that cash,” he mentioned.
Final yr, the town was in a position to repay about $35 million of its excellent debt on the stadium, leaving $245.2 million to nonetheless repay. The stadium debt hit a peak in March 2014 at $653.4 million.
