Hrm, a faint ray of hope for the 49ers.

[Arlos]

Larry Ellison, billionaire founder of Oracle Corp., is interested in
owning a National Football League franchise and recently met with the
league's commissioner to discuss plans for Los Angeles. But there may
have been another California city on the agenda, too.

Some NFL owners are concerned about the decline of the 49ers -- both
on the field and in fan interest -- under the stewardship of owners
Denise DeBartolo York and her husband, John York.

Owners of other teams, speaking on condition of anonymity, bemoaned
the 49ers' troubles on the field, and one said "the whole league"
wished they would be sold to a new owner. The 49ers' old stadium and
their declining attendance are of serious concern.

NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue, accompanied by Roger Goodell, the
league's executive vice president and chief operating officer, met
Ellison over dinner in San Francisco. The group also included Carmen
Policy, the former president of the 49ers and Cleveland Browns who now
lives in San Francisco, and a couple of Ellison's associates.

Greg Aiello, the league's vice president of public relations, had only
a "no comment" on the meeting and said that, although the quest for a
Los Angeles franchise and stadium had been going on for years, the NFL
was not close to any action. An Oracle representative said the company
also had no comment.

Another source familiar with the meeting raised the San Francisco issue.

"Don't ever think that perhaps part of the commissioner's interest in
coming to dinner wasn't ultimately directed towards the North, as
opposed to the South (of California)," the source said.

Los Angeles has been without an NFL franchise since the Raiders and
Rams left before the 1995 season, and it is a high priority for
Tagliabue because an L.A. team almost certainly would increase the
value of the new television packages. The current deals expire after
the 2005 season.

But some team owners contacted by The Chronicle expressed equal
concern over the plight of the 49ers, including their inability to get
a new stadium. These issues also could affect the television
contracts.

One influential team owner said of the 49ers, "I wish they'd be a
better team (because) that's an important market for us." The owner of
another team said "there is no chance" the Yorks would get a new
stadium, said he hoped they would sell the 49ers and said "the whole
league would give a collective sigh of relief if that happens."

"There is no chance they're going to get it done, and she's got to
wake up and say, 'We're selling the team -- we're taking our money and
going home, ' " the second owner said. "Quite frankly, I don't know
where her head is at, because other than the fact her husband is
enjoying himself and the notoriety of running a football team,
everybody's calling him an idiot in the meantime."

On the field, the 49ers -- one of the greatest dynasties in sports
through the '80s and early '90s -- are a shadow of the teams that
starred Jerry Rice, Joe Montana and Steve Young and were owned by
Eddie DeBartolo, Denise DeBartolo York's brother. She took over the
franchise when DeBartolo had to step aside because of his involvement
in a Louisiana gambling case.

The 49ers' victory last Sunday was their first in five games this
season, and prospects for improvement in the near future are dim. One
result of more losses than victories could be a decline in attendance.
Officially, that has not been the case yet, and the 49ers say every
home game this season is sold out. However, there were thousands of
empty seats from the outset of Sunday's game at Monster (formerly
Candlestick) Park, many more no-shows than were usual in the past.

Local TV stations cannot broadcast home games that are not sold out.
Should the 49ers' attendance officially decline, television blackouts
of both Bay Area teams are a possibility by next season, which is bad
timing because negotiations on new TV contracts are going on. The
Raiders already are often blacked out, but the 49ers have not had a
home game blacked out since early in the 1981 season.

These problems and potential problems fuel concern among NFL owners.
But the Yorks have said they do not plan to sell the 49ers.

"John and Denise were both at the game last week and expressed no
desire whatsoever to sell, and never have in the past," Sam Singer, a
spokesman for the Yorks, said Friday. "The family is very committed to
keeping, owning and running a winning team."

Singer also said the Yorks would "make some public pronouncements
about what their plans are for a stadium in San Francisco" sometime
after the season ends and before the 2005 season begins.

Although stadium construction often is mostly publicly financed, two
of the league's newest stadiums, for the Patriots and Eagles, required
owners Robert Kraft and Jeffrey Lurie, respectively, to put up between
$300 million and $400 million apiece. The Patriots' stadium, completed
in 2002 for about $325 million, was privately financed. Public funds
constituted less than half of the cost of the Eagles' new home,
completed one season later for about $520 million.

There is no practical way for the league to force an owner to sell; if
they could have, other owners would have forced the Raiders' Al Davis
out of the league several lawsuits ago.

An NFL source close to Tagliabue, asked to gauge Ellison's degree of
interest, said, "He sounds like he is (interested), but he's probably
thinking about 12 different things."

Ellison has two characteristics the NFL demands -- he is high-profile,
and he has the ability to write a big check. It most likely would take
at least $1 billion to get started in Los Angeles.

"Having the stadium is important (in Los Angeles), so having somewhat
deep pockets is important," said one owner. "Whether he's the right
guy or not, I don't know."

Groups studying four stadium sites in the Los Angeles area are
expected to make a preliminary report at a league meeting in Detroit
later this month. The league has set a target date of 2008 for a team
in Los Angeles, and no decisions are expected before the annual owners
meeting next March, at the earliest.

The potential sites are for new facilities in Anaheim or Carson and
for remodels of the Rose Bowl and the Los Angeles Coliseum.

Traditionally, the NFL identifies its sites before beginning the
process of choosing a team owner. With Los Angeles, there is the added
question of whether the league would expand there or move a team, but
-- after four teams have been added in the last decade -- there
appears to be little support for more expansion.

Although the 32 existing owners would receive an immediate windfall
of, say, $30 million apiece in splitting the franchise fee of a Los
Angeles expansion team, that money soon would be offset by the
additional division of the TV contract. Further, a 33rd team would
destroy the balance the league finally achieved in 2002 -- eight
divisions of four teams apiece with the teams within each division
playing nearly identical schedules.

The Minnesota Vikings are the only team known to be on the market and,
along with New Orleans, San Francisco, Indianapolis and San Diego, are
one of five teams with significant stadium problems.

One NFL owner suggested the possibility of a solution similar to the
one baseball reached with Montreal, with the league buying an existing
team and selling the ownership to a group in Los Angeles.

"I just don't think it works if we relocate (an existing owner) to Los
Angeles," he said. "I don't think it will be well-received in that
particular market. And that market is so fragmented; anyway, you need
some strong personalities from that area to pull it together."

Ellison, although he lives in Woodside, and his business headquarters
are on the Peninsula, also has considerable real estate interests in
the Los Angeles area. Tagliabue and other officials have talked to
other potential owners about the Los Angeles situation, too, although
it's not known whether any of them also have Bay Area ties.



Amusing that most of the rest of the owners in the NFL think the exact same thing that most of us 49er fans do: The Yorks are sheer and utter raving idiots. The smartest thing they could do would be to sell to Ellison, otherwise they're gonna end up as popular around here as Art Modell is in Cleveland. Then, once Ellison buys the team, he needs to a) offer Walsh any role he wants with the team, and b) bring in Jimmy Johnson to be coach & at least assistant GM. (plus get a wizard capologist)

Sure, it is probably a pipe dream, but given the current state of the 9ers, pipe dreams are all we have. I mean, hell, we're already more irrelevant than the BENGALS, and that's saying something.

-Arlos

[Malluas]

yorks aren't gonna sell until the team has no money hehe.

lol sure about the bengals. Stil got 13 more years of shit to do that.

Best thing to do is yorks sell the team, get a decent coach (not jimmy, not as good as he was back in the day) and SPEND FUCKIN MONEY! Policy and Debartalo have to come back

i was hoping the 9ers could get Rice to teach Llyod woods, and wilson to be better.


but really they need to spend some money, Yorks goal is to have the 9ers pay roll under 10million which would make it so they would move

[Lyion]

Once the niners get rid of their dead money, they'll be able to rebuild.

This season is fucked, they are evaluating talent, and won't be competitive until 2006.

[Malluas]

next year they are screwed also

they are still payin Steve Concusion Young hehe

[Arlos]

I'd buy that Lyion, but they already DID a cap purge, not 2-3 years ago, and swore up and down that after that, we were solvent and no worries. What happens, this year rolls around and whammo. Trust me, the Yorks are utter retards. Especially when compared to the old Eddie DeBartolo days. I mean, back then he put every player up in first class accomodations, and gave a bazillion perks to being a 9er. Now? The Yorks once docked a player's check 37 cents cause he dared to send out a letter using a company stamp. Talk about being insanely miserly.

Compound onto that the fact that they forced Walsh out again, and refused to listen to him for a long time even when he WAS still there. Pretty much anyone GOOD on the 9ers these days is a product of the last Walsh draft. Then they went and hired a coach who's never actually even been to the playoffs, and was out of football for a long time. (While at the same time they could've gone after Marvin Lewis or Dennis Green.) Face it, they're morons.

I don't expect the 49ers to be competitive until such time as they get new ownership. I really don't. The Yorks have not shown they're willing to either spend the money to win OR to actually work on getting a new stadium built, which would actually give them a revenue stream, since Candlestick's a steaming shitpile.

-Arlos

[Malluas]

sorry but candlestick is the shit.... not as in a great stadium but you can't tear down a stadium with that history

some of the greatest plays in NFL historym, best games, best players played on it for most of the seasons

[Lyion]

I agree with everything you said, Arlos, but don't expect the Yorks to lose their new toy anytime soon.

The niners could've redone contracts and made much more sound decisions. I don't understand why they didn't, but if they want to clear the books when everyone else uses Fuzzy math, the only one hurt are the Niner fans.

My Bro in law is a diehard niner fan, who grew up in the bay area, and he thinks the Yorks are the Anti christ.

[Malluas]

he is then antichrist the moment he took over eerything went to shit.

lots so many players Pro Bowl players etc.

ownes like rattay but instead of gettin rid of garcia or owens they got rid of both, Ron stone derrick deese gone, etc etc etc