49ers Need New Ownership, Stadium: Goodbye York, Candlestick—Hello Ellison?

The San Francisco 49ers are in desperate need of a face-lift. One of the NFL's most storied franchises, the 49ers have fallen into a state of disarray under owner Denise DeBartolo York's stewardship.

With a perfect record of 5-0 in the Super Bowl, the Niners are tied with Dallas for second with five titles. Only Pittsburgh has more with six.

Looking at past success, you would assume the club is one of the most valued in the NFL. Wrong. Currently the 49ers are the third least valuable NFL franchise at only $865 million. By comparison, Dallas and Pittsburgh are worth $1.6 billion and $1 billion, respectively.

What gives?

What's got to give is the City of San Francisco and ownership.

The 49ers are in desperate need of a replacement for antiquated Candlestick Park. The stadium has no club level seating, and the team must share all revenues from ad space, concessions, and luxury suites with the City of San Francisco. With the city cutting into the 49ers' pockets, the team has the second lowest operating income and revenue of all 32 NFL teams. Ouch.

With such low figures, the 49ers are doomed to mediocrity. How can the Red and Gold compete when they're so badly handicapped by city policy, bureaucracy, and inept ownership?

Once upon a time the 49ers were owned by Eddie DeBartolo, the most generous owner in the NFL, according to many. Before legal problems forced a settlement that ceded control of the team to his sister Denise, "Eddie D" hired the best talent money could buy, making the 49ers the winningest team of the 1980s. With the best coaching and talent in the league, the 49ers took the NFL by storm, winning five Super Bowls in 15 years.

Since Eddie D gave up control of the team, the 49ers have failed to re-sign talented players like Jeff Garcia and Terrell Owens and have lost coaches and executives like Jim Mora, Carmen Policy, and Scot McCloughan.

Something needs to be done here. The 49ers initially planned to build a new stadium at the site of Candlestick Park, but city zoning regulations quashed that. Also working against the Red and Gold is voters' hesitation to agree to a publicly funded stadium, something DeBartolo York is pushing for.

I think everyone agrees that a move across the Bay to Santa Clara would hurt the team's credibility—change the name to the Santa Clara 49ers then, right? But if the Niners are going to stay in San Francisco, the City needs to lessen the restrictions, and the DeBartolo York family needs to pony up the cash for a new stadium or find a buyer that will.

Larry Ellison, anybody? After getting burned by Chris Cohan in the Golden State Warriors deal, I'd be willing to bet that Larry would be happy to take the 49ers off Denise DeBartolo York's hands. With a personal fortune north of $27 billion, Larry could pay for a couple brand new stadiums, keeping the 49ers in San Francisco and getting the franchise back on track again.