Auditors Dig Into Levi's Stadium Financials For 2nd Time
SANTA CLARA (KPIX 5) -- A team of auditors poured over financial records at Levi Stadium Thursday for a second time.
Their mission is to better understand the real costs and potential profits from events held at the stadium like this weekend's PAC-12 championship game.
"We're not making informed decisions," Santa Clara Plays Fair Founder Deborah Bress said.
Bress says the 49ers have refused to turn over the financial documents that are at the heart of a legal tug-of-war between the team and the city.
A demand letter sent on behalf of the city to the 49ers outlines 15 financial documents they wanted the team to hand over in the next 30 days, or risk losing control of the stadium.
It's the type of transparency Bress says her organization has been calling for.
"We cannot make an intelligent decision as a community. And I'm speaking as a taxpayer. I don't know how much that stadium costs to run because right now they're the fox in charge of the hen house," Bress said.
The 49ers say big-name concerts like Taylor Swift have generated more than $5 million for the city's general fund over the past two years.
And, they point to clauses in that same contract which say releasing "proprietary information" would put them at a "competitive disadvantage" when negotiating new contracts with artists and concert promoters.
"It puts the city of Santa Clara, and the stadium authority at a competitive disadvantage. All the profits from these events go directly to the city of Santa Clara," 49ers President Al Guido said.
"I understand their hesitation about the non-NFL events, but the people they're protecting are us. And if we as a city are willing to take that risk, it's our business, not theirs," Bress said.
