The San Francisco 49ers and the city of Santa Clara are at odds about who should foot the extra bill for overtime paid to cops and other city workers who work a Christmas Day football game.
As is typically the case with disagreements between the city and the club, the primary source of contention during this portion of the meeting on Tuesday was who would pay the bills. The Niners had previously covered those expenses. In the discussion on Tuesday, the team’s home games on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Day in 2017 were used as an example. Previous City Manager Deanna Santana, who was fired in 2022 under suspicious circumstances, was the driving force behind those negotiations. (Hearst owns both SFGATE and The San Francisco Chronicle, but they operate independent newsrooms.)
As is typically the case with disagreements between the city and the club, the primary source of contention during this portion of the meeting on Tuesday was who would pay the bills. The Niners had previously covered those expenses. In the discussion on Tuesday, the team’s home games on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Day in 2017 were used as an example. Previous City Manager Deanna Santana, who was fired in 2022 under suspicious circumstances, was the driving force behind those negotiations. (Hearst owns both SFGATE and The San Francisco Chronicle, but they operate independent newsrooms.)
But this year, the group turned down a request from the city to pay city employees’ overtime that was submitted in November. The team pointed the finger at a new rule requiring cops to get double overtime pay at every Niners game. In 2022, the Niners declined pleas to pay overtime for the game on Christmas Eve; however, no justification was given for this decision.
Grogan read aloud a letter the Niners issued to the city, stating, “It is not a viable option to further increase costs to the 49ers beyond its already inflated point.”
SFGATE contacted the 49ers to inquire about their thoughts on the matter. At the time of publication, the team had not answered.
Should the city bear the expense, it would come from the Santa Clara Stadium Authority, which gets its funding from Levi’s non-NFL event earnings. The general fund of the city is then credited with that money.
