Nothing seems to be running smoothly these days for the San Francisco 49ers.
According to J.K. Dineen of the San Francisco Chronicle, the Santa Clara City Council voted Tuesday to find the 49ers in violation of a management agreement for Levi’s Stadium.
It’s the latest development in an ongoing spat between the 49ers and the city they play in. Santa Clara has claimed the 49ers aren’t fulfilling contractual obligations regarding financial disclosures on stadium operations. The 49ers have vehemently disagreed with the charges and have called such claims “false and irresponsible.”
The council’s vote has led the city to give the 49ers 30 days to turn over requested documentation. If they don’t, the city could attempt to take control of the stadium due to the 49ers breaching the terms of their lease.
“We hired ManCo (the 49ers stadium management company). They work for us. They don’t get to decide what is withheld from the owners of the stadium,” Santa Clara mayor Lisa Gillmor said. “How do we know we are managing this public asset in the proper manner if we cannot get the documents from the management company that we hired to manage the stadium?”
The 49ers continued to disagree with Santa Clara’s stance.
“Tonight’s decision was expected and continues a disturbing trend of frivolous and groundless actions by the Mayor and her allies on the Council, putting politics ahead of civic responsibility,” the team said in a statement. “We met with City staff last Friday to review all Management Agreement requirements, and they confirmed that we have complied fully. If they would like to receive information in a different format, they simply need to sit down with us and discuss, which would be a far better method of communication than discussing first with the press.
“The 49ers will continue to manage Levi’s Stadium in the first-class manner for which we’re known. The claim that we have refused to provide all relevant documents is simply another alarming claim intended to capture headlines. The fact is that the Authority has received and/or reviewed all relevant documents and have had access to do so throughout the process.”
