By Khalida Sarwari
The Santa Clara City Council will make a decision tonight to advance the naming of the proposed stadium for the San Francisco 49ers.
The council will select Stadco, a stadium operating company hired by the 49ers, to hire an entity or individuals with expertise in placing naming right deals, assistant city manager Ron Garratt said.
The naming rights contract calls for a two-year period, but an agreement could be reached in the next few months, Garratt said.
Once the contract is signed, it will create a revenue stream for the construction of the stadium.
Garratt said the next step would be the completion of the disposition and development agreement. The contract includes the ground lease for the property that the stadium will be built upon and will define all legal and contractual agreements.
The stadium is anticipated to open in Santa Clara next to the Great America theme park in 2014. Voters approved the $937 million, 68,500-seat project last June.
There’s a lot of energy behind the project, Garratt said, “But until something is finally done, it’s not done.”