That's one option the team's put on the table as it looks to find a new stadium to replace its long-time home on Candlestick Point. The Niners have eyed a new site in Santa Clara, on the parking lot of Great America. At first, Cedar Point was cool with the deal to build on its proprty, then not, then neutral and now, maybe not again.
Needless to say, that's ticking off the locals, including the Niners, as detailed in the Mercury News. So the Niners have floated the idea of buying the whole property, if Cedar Fair won't give up part of it for the stadium.
If Cedar Fair held onto the park and partnered with the Niners, perhaps we could settle the whole Cedar Fair vs. Six Flags battle on the football field, the next time San Francisco plays Six Flags chairman Dan Snyder's Washington franchise.
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I can't imagine that the 49ers buying out Cedar Fair's management contract would be good news for the park, since the Niners would need some manager to run the park... and CF's just about the best option available. (I can't see Six Flags running two parks in the Bay Area, and the facility just doesn't fit the style of Disney, Universal or Busch. Who does that leave? Herschend? Sorry, the SF Bay Area just doesn't seem like a match for them.... Merlin?)
I sense that Cedar Fair's pain over the issue would quickly go away were it thrown more cash that it has been offered to date. Sound like there's some public negotiating going on....
After taking a look, I have to agree that parking and other things would indeed be a mess when gameday rolls around. Granted with the NFL that is only 8 times a year, but I somehow doubt that the 49ers will be the only ones using the stadium. Plus, this will put the park in a precarious situation landwise. The park would then be pretty much landlocked, and new projects would be a problem. Also, the stadium will significantly increase the commercial value of the land. Wherever the stadium is built, not too long after, businesses/corporations/real estate investors will be tapping on the city's shoulder to develop around it...offering a lot of money for the land around the stadium...(can anyone say Six Flags Astroworld?) The idea of the 49ers buying and running the park is a bit of a laugh. First of all, they wouldn't run anything. In fact, I suspect that they would dole out a management contract for the first couple years, seek to buy the land, and than kick, scream, cry, and pay out money to someone until they get the green light to close the place. Than after they closed it, they would sell the land to the highest bidder, and Santa Clara would be another city with a stadium surrounded with sports bars, malls, and gift shops. A bit jaded and cynical I know, but you watch and see what happens if the 49ers buy the park.
By the way, heres the press release from Cedar Fair concerning this matter
http://www.cedarfair.com/ir/press_releases/index.cfm?current_root=15&mode=story&story_id=138
As to parking, the park closes in October, so that wouldn't be a conflict for most of the NFL season. Quite frankly, Great America is probably my least favorite theme park visited (pity since it's only 20 minutes away), and my opinion has actually dropped since Cedar Fair Took over.
Stadiums and theme parks simply don't create any market synergies when you locate them next to one another. A day at the game and a day at the park are simply too big of events, and too much of an expense, to expect a significant number of people to attempt both in one day.
In fact, co-locating the two creates enormous logistical problems, as parking, access and egress in the shared space can discourage attendance at both.
The only time co-location makes sense if the two will share a parking lot that they will *never* use at the same time, saving the expense of building two lots. But I can't imagine a schedule that would allow that. The NFL exhibition season starts in August. What theme park would want to give up Saturdays in August and Sundays in September to its neighbor tenant? That's leaving too much money on the table, I think, despite whatever promotional benefit that co-location provides.
They'd better spend the money now, 'cause when all those bad mortgages foreclose, there won't be any more tax revenue.
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