Levi’s Stadium made $8.8 million in non-NFL occasions final fiscal yr. Santa Clara will get $0. – Silicon Valley

SANTA CLARA — Although Levi’s Stadium raked in $8.8 million in non-NFL occasion income final yr, no cash from that tranche will go to town’s normal fund as a result of ongoing authorized disputes with the San Francisco 49ers.

The crew manages the city-owned stadium for non-NFL occasions, and roughly half of these earnings sometimes return into the stadium authority — the physique that oversee Levi’s — whereas the remainder are presupposed to stream to town’s normal fund to cowl providers like libraries, public security and parks. However that didn’t occur within the 2022-23 fiscal yr that ended March 31, 2023, based on a report reviewed by the Santa Clara Metropolis Council final week.

Throughout that point interval, the stadium hosted seven ticketed non-NFL occasions — six live shows that included Coldplay and Elton John and one soccer match — and 69 large-scale non-ticketed particular occasions, reminiscent of company events.

When wanting on the price range earlier this yr, Finance Director Kenn Lee informed the council finally week’s assembly that town’s authorized crew opted to place Santa Clara’s half of the earnings right into a authorized contingency fund “due to potential liabilities which will happen relying on the result” of arbitration with the 49ers.

The 2 events, which have a prolonged historical past of litigation, are presently in a dispute over public security prices. Final fiscal yr, the stadium racked up $5.7 million in public security prices for 49ers video games, with $4.6 million coming from direct metropolis prices and $1.1 million from outdoors businesses.

The present dispute between town and the NFL crew is over the cap on annual public security prices. As a result of the precise prices of safety have gone over that cap, there’s been a years lengthy debate over who ought to pay for any overages for soccer video games.

Mayor Lisa Gillmor stated she was “involved” that the stadium has traditionally struggled to usher in cash for town.

“We’re benefiting in a small method with some gross sales tax, some small floor hire,” she stated. “By way of what we had been presupposed to get, we’re getting some crumbs. Fortunately our resorts are going to learn, a few of our small companies are going to learn, however we had been presupposed to get an enormous profit from the stadium.”

Final fiscal yr, town transferred $650,000 out of the stadium’s discretionary fund into the final fund. The bucket of cash comes from half of the $4 ticket surcharge for non-NFL occasions.

In a press release, 49ers’ Chief Monetary Officer Peter Wilhelm disputed the mayor’s declare, stating that the latest monetary report was “proof of how well-run and profitable Levi’s Stadium has been.”

“Feedback about efficiency hire overlook the truth that Santa Clara prices its personal stadium among the highest public security prices of any venue within the nation, and that these prices should be coated earlier than distributing efficiency hire to town,” Wilhelm stated. “We’re desirous to resolve that imbalance and introduced an answer greater than a yr in the past. Within the meantime, town immediately advantages from hundreds of thousands of {dollars} in lodge surcharges, in addition to the increase to the native financial system when guests attend occasions at Levi’s Stadium.”

On the assembly, Councilmember Anthony Becker stated he believed town and the stadium had been “not off course” due to its capability to pay down money owed.

“I believe that was a quite common sense method that you simply guys did was to be sure to repay your money owed in order that Santa Clarans won’t be caught on the road owing all that cash,” he stated.

Final yr, town was in a position to repay about $35 million of its excellent debt on the stadium, leaving $245.2 million to nonetheless repay. The stadium debt hit a peak in March 2014 at $653.4 million.