Falcons owner, Atlanta mayor reach deal on downtown stadium

[RockaFowler]

Isn't the Georgia Dome only 20 years old?? My God, now we need new stadiums every 20 years??

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/03/07/falcons-owner-atlanta-mayor-reach-agreement-on-downtown-stadium/

Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed and Falcons owner Arthur Blank appeared together at City Hall today and said they’re both on board with a plan that would feature the city paying $200 million toward the $1 billion cost of a new stadium to replace the 21-year-old Georgia Dome.

“I am pleased that we reached an agreement that will ensure the Atlanta Falcons remain in the heart of our city for many years to come and will lead to revitalization of some of the city’s most historic neighborhoods,” Reed said, via FOX Atlanta.

Blank praised the deal as a “win-win,” while the city stressed that the $200 million would come from taxes on hotel rooms, rather than taxes from Atlanta residents.


Oh and don't these owners have their own money?? Are they going to give away seats now, too?? Just a bunch of garbage. Oh and any city that is willing to put up the money for a stadium should look at Miami right now!!

[bluedigger]

1. I guess they just don't build them like this anymore.

[Upton]

2. Atlanta is jealous of the 49ers..

http://photos.mercurynews.com/2013/03/06/new-49ers-stadium-hopeful-for-a-super-bowl/#6

[KamaAina]

3. At least this stadium is in Atlanta.

Not Dunwoody, the ATL equivalent of Santa Clara.

I do hope the Niners do not place an interlocking "SC" on their helmets.

[Upton]

5. A lot better than an interlocking "LA" or something similar..

At least they stayed in the Bay Area. Candlestick has needed to be replaced for years....the city of San Francisco simply failed to step up.

[Auggie]

4. That thing is going up fast ...

I still hate the location, and find it loathsome to be so unreachable by public transit from San Francisco.

[Upton]

6. Sure is...

as for that other stuff..people will just have to move on. San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee in talking about the 49ers Super Bowl bid:

"I've already turned the page on the '9ers building the stadium here," said Lee, referring to the 49ers leaving Candlestick Park in San Francisco, their home since 1971, for the new Santa Clara venue in 2014.

"In fact, I'm glad to actually see this is going as well as it is," Lee said. "We made a commitment to the economy of the whole region."

"This is a regional project with regional benefits," Reed said. "San Jose stands to benefit, just like the rest of the region, but more importantly it's about the Bay Area economy."

"We have one of the largest, most important economies in the world," Reed said. "Bringing the Super Bowl here will be a regional effort with regional benefits.

http://www.ktvu.com/news/news/local-govt-politics/mayors-push-2016-super-bowl-bid-new-49ers-stadium/nWjmy/

[KamaAina]

7. It is on a VTA light rail line

which connects with Caltrain at Mountain View, but they're going to have to operate rush-hour frequency, at least, on game days, as that line can only handle two-car trains.

It is also fairly near an Amtrak Capitol Corridor station, but again, the capacity of that service south of Oakland is limited. Perhaps this will give them a nudge to upgrade that segment to double-tracking.

edit: From SF, one would simply ride BART to, believe it or not, Oakland Coliseum, and catch Amtrak there.

re-edit: The Amtrak connection becomes of paramount importance if, as is rumored, the Raiders tag along to the new stadium, like the Jets did with the Giants'.

re-re-edit: By 2017, BART will go to San Jose, with a connection to light rail at Milpitas, approaching the stadium from the opposite direction.

[Auggie]

8. Too many transfers and connections ...

Via Oakland? Makes for a loooong ride. Plus, one thing breaks down and you're fucked. CalTrain to Mountain View to the Stadium could work, but that's banking on a flawless system operating at peak efficiency. And there's still the transfer. Good luck with that on game day.

I might say best bet would be MUNI busses, but that's about the most fucked-up there is. Maybe they'll figure out a way to get CalTrain there directly. That's a good argument for using eminent domain.

[KamaAina]

10. SF to Oakland: 25 minutes

BART Civic Center to Coliseum.

Amtrak, Oakland Coliseum to Santa Clara/Great America: 44 minutes.

Of course they'd have to add a game-day train.

[Auggie]

12. Not that easy, I think ...

hopefully those Amtrak trains aren't already jammed-packed with fans coming from Berkeley, Richmond, and points north. You'd have fans arriving from deep within the East Bay on BART too, at all different times. They'd need several game day trains running every 20 minutes or so for hours before and after the game. The trains will find fans from Hayward and Fremont that'll want to ride south too. That doesn't sound like Amtrak's business model to me.

It's a crazy circuitous route from San Francisco to Santa Clara via Oakland. They should bring CalTrain closer to the stadium. Or extend BART south through the peninsula (should do that anyway). Should have been part of the stadium deal. Typical myopic planning.

[KamaAina]

13. We're talking about special game-day trains

like Caltrain already does for the Giants. The Amtrak station is about as far from the 49ers stadium as Caltrain's terminal is from AT&T.

We'd be looking at two trains in each direction: one from, say, Martinez through Richmond (with another BART connection) and on to Oakland, then express to Santa Clara (and San Jose, to store the train), and another starting in Oakland and serving the Coliseum (with BART), Hayward, and Fremont.

[Auggie]

14. It just doesn't sound right to me

San Francisco > Oakland > Santa Clara

[KamaAina]

15. I have often gone from San Jose to The City through Oakland

because BART is both faster and cheaper than Caltrain.

[marmar]

9. Another major-league welfare queen........

...... Why do municipalities keep falling for this?

[Auggie]

11. Bottom line, I think it's civic pride ...

as shallow as that sounds, there's a certain cache attached to hosting a pro sports franchise, especially one affiliated with the NFL. It identifies the region and describes its character. Without the Packers, Green Bay would be ... what?

Applies to civic leaders too, IMO -- a chance to rub elbows with the owners and players, special use of luxury boxes, free tickets, free parking, etc. A chance to return favors for awarding adjoining construction and infrastructure projects. And should the team be lucky enough to win a championship, they can even ride in the victory parade! What civic leader could turn down all that?

Maybe it was that, decades ago, funding a stadium would actually pay off through additional tax revenue. But with these behemoths costing close to and over $1 billion, that's not going happen.

I don't believe municipalities so much keep falling for anything. I think they really want it. They're afraid of losing "the team." I think enough people feel that it keeps happening.

[wilt the stilt]

16. Many are opposed to it

This is incredible BS. The current stadium is fine. It is being done in the dark of night and no one is truly seeing the numbers and I believe if it was put up for a referendum it would be voted down. PSL's will fail miserably in this town. The Falcons only fill right now because they are winning and there is no love for them here. GA only love the Bulldogs(UGA). When Blank first took over the team they were selling tickets for $10.00 just to get people in and this will happen again.