The Zong

I used to think economists were full of shit, especially when they tried to tell us that deficits don’t matter. As it turns out, maybe they’re not all that worthless. As it turns out, economic science has revealed that the land in Santa Clara that will be used to build the proposed $160 million stadium for the Niners might be a more economically viable site if they built a big frigging office park or mall there.

Keyser Marston Associates, a real estate consultancy, generally validated a 49ers-commissioned report that said a new stadium would produce roughly $42.5 million per year in new direct, indirect and induced economic annual activity in the city of Santa Clara.

But Keyser Marston also concluded in a report released by city officials Friday that a 15-acre Class A office complex would produce $3.3 million in revenue for the city annually, while a stadium would produce just $650,000, slightly less than the $700,000 predicted by the 49ers. The findings will be presented to the Santa Clara City Council next Tuesday. Those numbers do not include construction activity.

In addition, because the land the 49ers are targeting sits in a designated entertainment district, the firm suggested that the council “may wish to seek an entertainment/tourist use, which could be more compatible with the nearby Convention Center and Great America Theme Park.”

Well, lord knows that Santa Clara is pretty damn good at building Class A office complexes. It’s almost like they invented it.

Anyhow, the Santa Clara 49ers of San Francisco are spinning the shit out of the report.

49ers spokeswoman Lisa Lang said team officials’ initial reaction to the report was positive.

“We’re very pleased that the city’s economic analysis validates our study. It reinforces that a new stadium would create thousands of jobs, generate millions of dollars in new tax revenue, and provide an important economic stimulus for Santa Clara,” Lang said.

Right, except for the fact that it’ll be more economically viable if they install a bunch of cubicles on the field.

Maybe this is why the Niners have resorted to threatening Santa Clara with moving their headquarters if the city doesn’t suck it up and give them their $160 million.

The San Francisco 49ers say that if Santa Clara doesn’t pay about $160 million toward building a new football stadium, then the team probably will move its headquarters and training facility.

Sounds great. Although team officials have stated that this isn’t a threat, one can probably assume that it’s a promise. Those 49ers sure do know how to treat a girl!

- M.G.