As the Santa Clara Stadium Authority looks to finalize its more than $60 million operating budget this week, a $620,000 request from the San Francisco 49ers to cover the cost of a new office is causing concern.

The move of the team’s business staff from Levi’s Stadium to a 52,000-square-foot space on Great America Parkway was driven by the need to consolidate everyone into one place to make them “a more efficient organization,” Alex Acton, the 49ers’ director of finance, told the Stadium Authority Board at a meeting last week. The board is made up of members of the Santa Clara City Council.

Acton said the office is being occupied by 49ers employees “focused on driving revenue” to the Stadium Authority — the public governing body that oversees Levi’s Stadium. The NFL team serves as the manager of the stadium, booking non-football events and supervising day-to-day operations.

The 49ers originally looked for a space at Levi’s Stadium that could accommodate all of its business staff, but Acton said there wasn’t anything large enough to fit everyone in a “continuous square footage manner.”

“We have people on our team that really know and understand the real estate market, and we feel we really made a really good deal at a really good time,” Acton said of the new office, noting that the rent is “below market rate for North Santa Clara.”

Acton did not disclose the total rent price — the Stadium Authority will cover a share of the cost.

But Santa Clara spokesperson Janine De la Vega said that city officials are recommending that the board reject the 49ers’ request to cover the office in the upcoming budget.

“If, at any point, we determine that Stadium Authority funding for any portion of the off-site office space is appropriate, staff would bring that back to the board for their consideration as a budget amendment,” De la Vega said in a statement.

City Attorney Glen Googins said at a March 4 meeting that the 49ers have pointed to “a fairly broad definition in the management agreement for what constitutes manager operating expenses.”

The agreement defines manager operating expenses as “reasonable and necessary expenses and expenditures of whatever kind or nature incurred, directly or indirectly, by the Stadium Manager in promoting, operating, maintaining and managing the Stadium.”

But Googins said there’s nothing in the agreement that he believes “provides for (the office) cost to be passed through” to the Stadium Authority. The city attorney said they previously didn’t incur a cost related to office space since the 49ers managment employees had been working at Levi’s Stadium.

Mayor Lisa Gillmor told The Mercury News that she worries there will be “financial consequences for years to come for our public” if they have to take on the cost of the office space.

“Any costs you add, any expenses added to the Stadium Authority, reduces the money that ultimately flows to the general fund,” she said.

The council, acting as the Stadium Authority Board, is expected to discuss the issue Tuesday night.

Originally Published: March 11, 2025 at 2:38 PM PDT

Of the numerous head-to-head winning streaks and postseason runs the Gonzaga men’s basketball team has put together over the last two decades under head coach Mark Few, there aren’t many that compare to the Bulldogs’ consecutive appearances in the West Coast Conference Tournament championship game.

The Zags, who haven’t missed out on the conference tournament title game since Few took the reins in 1999, are set to appear in their 28th consecutive WCC championship game after taking down San Francisco, 85-76, in the semifinal round on Monday at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas.

Led by Graham Ike’s 27 points and 10 rebounds, Gonzaga never looked back from a strong start offensively to the second half. The 6-foot-9 forward scored on the first four possessions coming out of the halftime break, before Khalif Battle began to expand the Zags’ lead with some hot shooting from outside the arc and in the midrange areas. Battle finished with 21 points and four rebounds in 35 minutes of action.

“It was a great basketball game, and it took everything we had to kind of hold them off,” Few said. “I thought San Francisco was great tonight. They shot it really well from a bunch of different spots, and really got after us, especially early on the defensive end.”

With the win, the Bulldogs take on No. 1 seed Saint Mary’s in the WCC championship game (Tuesday 6 p.m., ESPN) for the fourth season in a row and the seventh time in the last nine postseasons.

Here’s more of what Few had to say following the game.

On the historical context of Saint Mary’s and Gonzaga’s success in the WCC:

“Just from where their program came, when I first got in as an assistant, and then actually, when Randy [Bennett] took over; he’s just done an amazing job. And they know who they are. They’re really purposeful and very good at what they do, which is very different than how we play, and we’re really good at what we do. So I think the interesting thing is we’ve had two head coaches that have stayed a really good long time, and their staffs have stayed relatively intact or they hired former players and things like that. I think that’s the other thing that makes it really, really special. And I think both teams have always done it the right way, and so it’s been great.

“The last couple games have went their way but again, they were hard fought and almost down to the last possession in most cases. We’ve got to be able to address how aggressive they are on the glass. We got to keep them off the glass and keep finding ways to score against that stingy defense and see if we can create some turnovers and get out and run.”

On appearing in the WCC championship game for a 28th season in a row:

“I mean some of these streaks are crazy; this streak [of 33-straight wins against San Francisco], it’s nuts, man. San Francisco is really, really good. I mean that’s an NCAA Tournament caliber team. Great size, incredible guard [Ryan] Beasley; he’s just been heroic these last two nights coming back from his ankle. [Malik] Thomas was spectacular, and Chris [Gerlufsen] does a great job. So I mean this year has been harder than ever. It’s already been enhanced by adding Oregon State and Washington State, and then now San Francisco stayed great, Saint Mary’s has stayed great. And so to make it 28 straight years is unbelievable. It’s not as unbelievable as making the [NCAA] tournament 27 straight times, but you know it’s right up there.”

On San Francisco’s fluctuating defensive strategies:

“They’ve tried everything, and at this point in the season, it’s not anything you haven’t seen. And so I thought our guys handled it very, very well. I thought we just missed some shots in the first half. And I thought we shot a little too quick; I thought we were amped up after not playing for a few days, whatever it was, we probably shot a little too quick. They do a nice job switching their defenses. But when you got a point guard like Ryan Nembhard, usually you can kind of just roll through all that and he’ll get them in the right spots and make the right decisions.”

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