49ers, Raiders Discussing Possible Joint Stadium

In a development that shouldn't really surprise anybody, Jed York confirmed that the San Francisco 49ers have been meeting with the Oakland Raiders to discuss options for sharing a new football stadium. These are really just preliminary discussions for now, but it's an important bit of due diligence for each side. There has been inferences of such a possible deal down the road and Roger Goodell has made it clear that a joint stadium would have a better chance of funding.

Both teams seem open to a partnership and the financial windfall of such a deal could be tremendous. The 49ers have reportedly sold upwards of $140 million in luxury suites for the new stadium. They're working on starting season ticket sales. They're working on naming rights and other revenue streams. If you add in the Raiders, you may not be able to double the various ticket prices, but you'd be guaranteeing yourself a whole lot more revenue with a second franchise helping to foot the bill.

One issue with a new stadium would be where to place it. The 49ers have invested a lot of time, effort, and money into a possible Santa Clara stadium, but would the Raiders be willing to ride in on the 49ers coattails to get a stadium done? Or would Al Davis want to consider alternate locations, which could slow this process even further?

I'm not against a shared stadium as long as it wouldn't slow up the process. I know some folks are against doing deals with the Raiders, but it's not like they'd be in the stadium at the same time, except for the exhibition game and playing each other every fourth year in the regular season.

It makes too much financial sense not to do it. Considering the economic state of California there's not much in the way of public money to help finance the stadium. Naming rights deals remain depressed outside of the new LA stadium. Adding a second team and double the football dates is an ideal way to convince somebody, possibly in Silicon Valley, to invest in naming a new joint stadium. Throw in the combined luxury suite and ticket sales money and when you're talking about a billion dollar stadium, suddenly the costs aren't quite so bad.