The 49ers added some additional funding to their stadium on Thursday as the NFL approved $200 million in a G-4 loan that will go towards construction costs. This represents the last piece of funding for what is expected to be a $1.02 billion stadium. The biggest chunk was the $850 million loan taken out in December, but this $200 million remains an important part of the financing process. It is my understanding that the 49ers will pay the G-4 loan off in part through premium seating revenue. The stadium builders' licenses may play a role, too.

The 49ers are the first team to receive funding under the new collective bargaining agreement. The previous CBA had the G-3 stadium fund but that dried up due to a host of stadiums recently built (Cowboys, Giants/Jets) or renovated (Chiefs). It is not a surprise the 49ers are getting this money, but it is still nice to have it officially completed. The 49ers had initially had an optimistic opening date of the 2014 NFL season, but the more realistic scenario is 2015. Maybe a Super Bowl shortly thereafter?

There is still an expected hefty price that folks will have to pay to get season tickets in the new stadium. A lot of numbers are floating around right now, but it is worth noting that for the most part those are dealing with club level seats. These stadium builder licenses will be expensive, but we'll have to wait and see what all of them will cost (as opposed to just the early higher end ones).

I'm curious how many people with season tickets now will look to get season tickets in the new stadium. Before we get to that, I've included a poll about your current season ticket status, as well as your plan for 2012. I know most people don't live in the greater Bay Area, so answer accordingly, or you can simply ignore the poll.

Back in early December, the San Francisco 49ers and the city of Santa Clara came up with $850 million worth of loans that they would use to pay for the team's new stadium. The loans were subsequently approved by the Santa Clara Stadium Authority with the plan being for serious construction to begin this spring. The team has begun releasing prices for PSLs (they're calling them Stadium Builder Licenses) on some of the club seats and will continue releasing pricing information.

Given that this is California, somebody is not happy about the process. A group in Santa Clara has opposed the current plan under the belief that it is sufficiently different from the original financing plans. They recently submitted a pair of referendum petitions each with 5,500 signatures challenging the development and financing plans for the project. Recently the Santa Clara City Council voted 5-2 to discard the petitions, contending its actions were immune from referendum.

The legal rationale, outlined in a series of previous court cases unrelated to the stadium, is that only "legislative" acts, those that make new policies for a state or local government, can be enacted by voter initiatives or undone by referendums. "Administrative" acts, which tell government officials how to implement their policy, cannot be overturned by referendum or approved by voter initiative.

The group will apparently continue to fight this contending the original measure presented to the voters. It could make for a sticky situation, although the courts have seemed to side with the local governments in the recent past.

Although there might be some differences, the 49ers remain the ones on the line in this whole deal. Although both the 49ers and the county's stadium authority have taken out loans, it is my understanding that the 49ers are the collateral on this loan. The city will not find itself suddenly on the hook for close to a billion dollars in loans. That won't stop groups from protesting, but that's going to happen I suppose. I just want to see shovels in the ground.

Well, get your hard hats ready. After a decade and a half of talk, the 49ers are just about set to begin construction on their new billion dollar stadium in Santa Clara, California. Although it was considered mostly a formality, the Santa Clara Stadium Authority voted 7-0 to approve the $850 million loan that will be used to help pay for the stadium. The Authority approved the loan as well as a 40-year lease agreement with the 49ers.

The $850 million will be loaned to the Stadium Authority and the 49ers Stadium Development Company, and, as required by the recent ballot measure, will have no impact on the City's General Fund. Revenues from the sale of naming rights, "Stadium Builders Licenses" (SBLs), suites and additional sources will be used to repay the loan. That "additional sources" includes the hoped for money from the NFL's fund formerly known as the G3 fund.

The team is hoping to have construction done in time for the start of the 2014 season. It remains to be seen if they can meet that goal given the time that can be required for stadium construction. Every stadium is different in certain respects so any timeline comparison does need to be taken with a grain of salt. For Cowboys Stadium, the team broke ground in September 2005 and opened the stadium in May 2009. For the Giants/Jets MetLife Stadium, the teams broke ground in September 2007 and opened the stadium in April 2010.

On the other hand, the folks who bulldozed and rebuilt Stanford Stadium completed the project in less than a year. Again, it was a much different style of project, but with the right amount of money and quality construction crews, anything is possible, I suppose. My money is on a 2015 opening for the 49ers new stadium, and maybe I will be pleasantly surprised by an earlier opening.

I like waffles. Sometimes, I like to waffle. When it comes to whether or not I want the 49ers to move to Santa Clara, just pour syrup over my head and grab a fork and knife.

This issue is so frustratingly simple - really pecuniary interests are the only complexities - and yet, I want to make it complex. I want other people to agonize over whether or not the Niners should move. Most everybody I've talked to have pretty clear opinions on this issue, that is if they are a Niners fan. My dad thinks it would be cool for them to move to Santa Clara: it would be a nicer stadium and a closer drive for the family to get to games.

For me, though, (and I suspect for some of you) this issue is fraught with conflicting rules and regulations about how to think, and this drives me bonkers. I feel like a psychological experiment, some sorry subject boiling over with unbridled fandom in a sick laboratory. This ain't no Billy Nye run laboratory, too. It's scary.

At the end of the day, I just can't make up my mind: the rational part of my brain has already ceded that Santa Clara is the way to go, but then the deep, dark underbelly of my emotions cannot relinquish the tenuous grasp it has upon my heart. I really just don't want the 49ers to leave San Francisco.

Follow me after the jump to get some hot and sexy psychoanalysis on (Bow Chicka Wow Wow!).

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The San Francisco 49ers and the city of Santa Clara have taken a huge step forward in their attempts to get a new football stadium built for the 49ers down near Great America. Word got out last night that the 49ers and Santa Clara have reached an agreement with Goldman Sachs, U.S. Bank and Bank of America in which the three banks will loan the 49ers and the city $850 million to pay for much of the construction costs of the stadium.

The stadium will cost approximately $1.02 billion and will go up across the street from the 49ers current facilities on 4949 Centennial Boulevard in Santa Clara. The cost originally was approximately $987 billion million, but naturally that estimate has increased. Add in potential cost overruns and I suspect this $1.02 billion figure will not be the final number, either.

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As the 49ers continue this rather magical run in 2011, there is still the often discussed new stadium issue to be resolved. The team has been working with the city of Santa Clara to get a stadium built and is hoping to get shovels in the ground by late 2012 and open up the stadium for the 2014 season.

Last night the Santa Clara City Council approved $10 million to begin preparing the site for the eventual construction. The preparations cover things like rerouting utilities and adding access road, sidewalks and parking spaces. It is preliminary work that apparently needs to be done before shovels can hit the dirt.

The preliminary work is great and all, but there is still the matter of paying for the remaining $900+ million that will be required to get the stadium done. Santa Clara is providing approximately $114 million in public funds that will come via $40 million in redevelopment dollars and the rest from utility revenue, bonds and an increased hotel tax.

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[This is a video taken by a fan that will put you in the middle of one of the many fights taking place. The mysterious crackling noise is in fact a taser gun being used to subdue the suspects.]

Violence ensued at Candlestick Park during the second preseason game featuring the San Francisco 49ers and Oakland Raiders. The heated tension between the bay area rivals reached a level it should have never seen this past Saturday, except it was the fans who brought it there. A number of the attendees took what should have been a meaningless preseason game and turned it into a hostile riot.

Beside the violent 4-man melee that's been displayed all over Sportscenter, guns were drawn and people were hospitalized. One of the victims was a 24-year-old 49ers fan, who was shot four times in the stomach in the parking lot. His father was on ESPN pleading to the fan nation for harmony at ball games again.  

Soon after, San Francisco 49ers President Jed York addressed anyone who has immediate plans to be a visitor of Candlestick Park. York placed a request to Commissioner Roger Goodell and the NFL to nullify the annual preseason bout between his 49ers and their bay rival. In addition to that, he declared the end of tailgating after kickoff and a no tolerance policy regarding ill behavior, stating "Public safety is our top priority."

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Earlier this week, the Los Angeles City Council unanimously approved a financing plan to build a new $1.2 billion football stadium near the Staples Center. While they don't have a team in place, it's hard to imagine a team not making the necessary move to get into one of the biggest media markets in the country.

Such a possibility gets the rumors and analysis flowing, and naturally the 49ers have been included in the mix of teams that have sufficient stadium issues that they could consider moving. This isn't to say the 49ers are a favorite among this group, or that it isn't more than idle speculation, but it's still worth noting.

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