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