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49ers near deal to sell 6.2% stake in franchise to 3 Bay Area families

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49ers near deal to sell 6.2% stake in franchise to 3 Bay Area families


SANTA CLARA, Calif. — According to San Francisco 49ers owner Jed York, interested parties have approached his family “probably on a weekly basis” to attempt to buy a piece of the 97% of the team the Yorks own.

This week, it seems, three of the parties who approached the York family came with the right offer. The 49ers are working to complete the sale of more than 6% of the team to three Bay Area families, according to a league source.

Sportico, which first reported the pending sale Thursday, said the sales will be done at a franchise valuation of more than $8.5 billion. If the deal is completed at that number, the valuation will be the largest ever for a sports franchise in a transaction.

The Khosla, Deeter and Griffith families are the prospective buyers, with the Khoslas purchasing 3.1%, the Deeters obtaining 2.1% and the Griffiths acquiring 1%, The Athletic reported Thursday afternoon.

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The NFL is expected to formally approve the transactions at the spring owners’ meetings in Minneapolis next week. The 49ers declined to comment on the proposed sales Thursday./p>

br/>The Niners have been receiving offers for the past few months, and York said in March at the annual league meeting that his family had been considering a sale of up to 10% of its ownership stake. At the time, he called it a “family asset allocation decision” based on the wants and needs of various family members.

“It’s just one of those things where if there’s an opportunity that makes sense, we would always explore that, but I’m not sure what we’re going to end up doing,” York said then. “And if we do, we would try to find the right people who would help bolster everything that we’re doing in and around the team, on the field, off the field, and just make sure that we had good partners that are with us.”

All three of the reported buyers have venture capital backgrounds. Vinod Khosla is co-founder of Sun Microsystems and the founder of Khosla Ventures in Menlo Park, California. Byron Deeter is a partner at Bessemer Venture Partners in Redwood City and San Francisco, and William Griffith is a partner at Iconiq Capital in San Francisco.

In other franchise-related news, theLos Angeles Chargersare requesting approval to sell an 8% stake in the team to a private investment firm, The Los Angeles Times reported, citing a person with knowledge of the approval request sent in a memo to NFL owners.

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The newspaper said Chargers owner Dean Spanos and siblings Michael Spanos and Alexis Spanos Ruhl will attempt to sell the stake to private investment firm Arctos at next week’s meetings.br/]

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San Francisco could vote again on whether to allow cars on the Great Highway

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San Francisco could vote again on whether to allow cars on the Great Highway


In San Francisco’s Sunset District, controversy continues over what to do with the Great Highway.

Friday, the newly-appointed supervisor for that district, Alan Wong, confirmed he is running to keep his job. He also shared that he would support a ballot measure that would bring cars back to the now-closed stretch of road. Some residents in the district already said they would be prepared to fight back against that ballot measure if it came to fruition.

This has been a politically tumultuous year for the Sunset District. In November of 2024, San Francisco voters narrowly approved Proposition K, which moved to close the highway along Ocean Beach to cars and to transform it into a park. In March of 2025, the stretch of road was permanently closed to cars, and in April, the area was officially reopened as Sunset Dunes Park. In September, voters recalled then-Supervisor Joel Engardio, with many in the campaign against Engardio expressing frustration with his support for turning the Great Highway into a park. In November, Mayor Daniel Lurie appointed Isabella “Beya” Alcaraz as the new supervisor for District 4, only to have her resign a week later amid growing questions about her actions as a small business owner.

At the start of December, Mayor Lurie swore in Alan Wong as his new appointee to serve as supervisor in District 4. Wong grew up in the Sunset, attended Lincoln High School, and has served as both an elected member of the San Francisco City College Board of Trustees and as a legislative aid to former supervisor Gordon Mar.

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In an interview with NBC Bay Area on Friday, Wong shared that he has not hidden the fact that he voted no on Prop. K in the 2024 election. However, in his first three weeks in office, Wong said he set out to “have conversations with different constituent groups and listen to them” about the issues.

“After three weeks of listening and having these conversations, I believe that my values and how I voted before align with the majority of the district,” Wong said.

San Francisco Supervisor Alan Wong supports a ballot measure that calls for cars to return to the Great Highway.

“And as the district supervisor, I need to take a leadership role in representing the district that I am here to serve,” he continued.

Wong said he is now prepared to be one of the four supervisors supporting a ballot initiative to reopen the Great Highway to cars on weekdays.

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Molly Rose, with Sunset Parent Advocates, worries that when Wong was listening to community voices over the past three weeks, some voices may have been left out.

“If he talked to the Sunset residents, he didn’t talk to me, and he didn’t talk to us– the family groups I am a part of,” Rose said.

“We are all very pro-park, we use it very heavily as a park,” she continued.

Rose said there are several hundred parents involved with her group. As a parent, Rose said her children love going to the park there.

“Sunset Dunes is the place where I take my kids to have a safe place to play,” she said.

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Rose said that she has been asking for Wong to meet with her group, but has been waiting to hear back from his scheduling team.

Wong’s office confirmed that Rose is in touch with their office and that Wong’s scheduler is “actively coordinating a time” for them to meet.

“While I do think there is a very loud, anti-park contingent of people in the Sunset, I don’t think they’re the majority,” Rose emphasized.



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New SF supervisor supports reopening Great Highway on weekdays

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New SF supervisor supports reopening Great Highway on weekdays


SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — Alan Wong, the new supervisor for District four in San Francisco, has publicly expressed his support for reopening the Great Highway to vehicles on weekdays. This statement comes amid ongoing debates surrounding the highway’s conversion into a park last spring, which was met with mixed reactions from the community.

The Great Highway was transformed into a public park earlier this year, a change that many residents have embraced, while some local neighbors have pushed back. Joel Engardio, the former supervisor who supported this conversion through Measure K, was recalled this year, highlighting the division among constituents in District four.

Wong, who was appointed as supervisor following Engardio’s recall, filed paperwork to run for the elected position on the board. His term is set to last until January 2027, during which he aims to solidify his platform around reopening the Great Highway.

In his statement, Wong emphasized, “I believe my values align with a majority of Sunset residents who support reopening the Great Highway to cars on weekdays. As a result, I am prepared to be one of four supervisors needed to sponsor a ballot initiative to restore that compromise.” This suggests Wong’s intent to address community concerns head-on while building a wider consensus.

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Prior to its conversion, the Great Highway allowed vehicles during the week and served as a park on weekends, a compromise Wong supports restoring. He aims to return to this model in response to feedback from local constituents.

All facts in this report were gathered by journalists employed by KRON4. Artificial intelligence tools were used to reformat information into a news article for our website. This report was edited and fact-checked by KRON4 staff before being published.



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San Francisco, CA

Women’s volleyball professional team headed to San Francisco

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Women’s volleyball professional team headed to San Francisco


Pro volleyball will soon be coming to San Francisco and this latest team is part of a surge of women’s sports.

League One Volleyball officially launched this year with six teams. Now the league has announced it’s expanding to nine teams, and that one of those expansion teams will be based in the city by the bay.

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Three-time Olympic volleyball medalist Kelsy Robinson Cook is on the ownership team for LOVB San Francisco, bringing professional volleyball to the city. “Can tell you it’s going to be amazing,” said Robinson Cook. “Then, when you bring in the fandom of the Bay Area and SF I think personally it’s going to make for an incredible atmosphere.”

Team ownership said starting a team in the Bay Area is a natural with colleges and universities in the region turning out top talent. “It’s the number one sport for women and girls and I think that just speaks volumes as to where we’re headed, not only in club and college, but professionally,” said Robinson Cook.

Pro women’s volleyball is part of a growing list of professional women’s sports teams calling San Francisco and the Bay Area home.

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The women’s professional baseball league announced plans for a team in San Francisco. Bay FC and the Golden State Valkyries are already proving there is a market for professional women’s sports.

When pro-volleyball was looking to expand, San Francisco was a natural choice. “You’re seeing Bay FC, the Valkyries, the success that they have, and this market loves sports, and they’ve also proven they love women’s sports,” said Robinson Cook.

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San Francisco leaders said the city has already proven that it supports pro-women’s teams, and will welcome professional volleyball. Mayor Daniel Lurie pointed to the city’s rich sports history and enthusiasm to support the home teams. “Now, as we saw with the Valkyries selling out every single home game last year, there is an appetite, there is a fan base, and this new league understands that,” said Mayor Lurie.

At this time, there are still a lot of questions up in the air, including exactly where LOVB San Francisco will play. Organizers say they have a lot of plans in the works to get the team ready to bump, set and spike starting in January 2027.

 

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