Santa Clara mayoral candidate Kathy Watanabe was the featured speaker at a Thursday, Sept. 24 press conference attacking Levi’s Stadium and its contributions, or lack thereof, to the City of Santa Clara.
The event, led by the Coalition for Community Engagement and its founder, Edward Escobar, called out the 49ers for failing to be “good neighbors” and lacking fiscal transparency.
Watanabe told the crowd Santa Clara isn’t getting its fair share of the financial benefit of the stadium and isn’t expected to get significant general fund revenue beyond ground rent for the next 10 years.*
Further, she’s concerned about the costs of Super Bowl LX and the FIFA World Cup to the city.
“We still don’t have a full public accounting of what the Super Bowl and FIFA cost the stadium authority or the expenses that will be reimbursed,” Watanabe told The Weekly.
Watanabe said she recalls that after Super Bowl 50, preliminary economic reports reached the City Council by November 2016. She hopes to see this year’s numbers within about six weeks.
“We want to make sure that whatever is supposed to be coming to the city general fund is coming to the city general fund,” she said. “And we also want to make sure going forward that our small businesses are receiving the benefit of these events as well.”
Watanabe said she met one-on-one with 49ers President Al Guido in February about future stadium events.
“We want to be part of that,” she said she told him, asking for transparency and regular meetings. According to Watanabe, Guido said more events are coming and he would be open to talking.
When asked why the city held no events, such as watch parties, while games were being played in Santa Clara, Watanabe said public safety staff were needed at the stadium.
“There were not enough public safety to be around the city to oversee watch parties, so it had to be done strategically. That’s what I understand,” she said.
Asked what the 49ers should have done to boost the city’s economy, Watanabe acknowledged the city had been remiss.
“Planning should have started much earlier,” she said. “It should have been done two years ago because that’s what happened for the 50th.”
The community events that did take place, such as night markets and watch parties, happened because of “the pushing of the mayor,” she said.
Shortly after the press conference ended, the 49ers responded to The Weekly with a rebuttal of Watanabe’s claims.
“Levi’s Stadium has had the two most successful years in its history since Kathy Watanabe left office, and Santa Clara reaped the benefits,” said Ellie Caple, 49ers’ vice president of corporate communications and public affairs, in an email.
“Stadium finances are a matter of public record and show that Levi’s Stadium delivered more than $30 million directly to the city’s general fund over the last two years, and millions more over its life than originally projected. Ms. Watanabe is either misinformed or intentionally misleading the public.”
Coalition for Community Engagement
The Coalition for Community Engagement’s press release was titled “Santa Clara Demands Answers: Coalition to Confront Levi’s Stadium Over Missing Money, Broken Promises, and Rising Blight.” It called Watanabe the “former vice mayor” and did not mention her current candidacy for mayor. She left the council in December 2024 and currently serves on the Santa Clara Unified School District Board of Trustees.
The Coalition for Community Engagement’s press release says the group’s goal is to “amplify the voices of Santa Clara residents and business owners.” Searches of the CA Secretary of State’s business and political committee listings show no record of the organization.
Its founder, Escobar, was active in the campaigns to recall then-Oakland Mayor Jean Quan and then-Alameda County DA Pamela Price, according to Bay City News.
*The most recent stadium financial report estimates 26/27 general fund revenue at about $7.5 million: $1.8 million in performance rent and $4.5 million in excess revenue, $1 million ground rent. The $30 million summary comes from the 24/25 and 25/26 stadium financial reports.
Those projections forecast there would be no “excess revenue” to the general fund in later years. “Excess revenue” was a new category of payment to the city that was part of a lawsuit settlement agreement. It is in addition to profit from non-NFL events, ground rent, ticket fees and 100% reimbursement for staff and public safety costs.
Carolyn Schuk can be reached at carolyn@santaclaraweekly.com.