Santa Clara voters OK 49ers stadium

(06-08) 23:21 PDT -- Santa Clara voters Tuesday approved Measure J, the San Francisco 49ers' plan to build a $937 million stadium in their community.

The measure took a strong early lead, and although results from the city's precincts were coming in slowly, the crush of mail ballots that was reported minutes after the polls closed was enough for the victory.

Santa Clara officials and several hundred stadium supporters packed into an American Legion hall to celebrate the anticipated passage of Measure J. While precinct results were slow to arrive, the stadium supporters exuded confidence. By 9:30 p.m., the pro-Measure J leaders already were handing out awards and congratulating each other for a measure well won.

Opponents of the stadium could only watch the results and hope for an upset that never came.

"We did everything we could possibly do, and all we can do now is wait," said Bill Bailey, a leader of the effort to block construction of the new home for the NFL club.

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom has argued that Santa Clara's stadium election does not guarantee that the 49ers will leave the city, which will move ahead with plans for a new stadium site as part of the Hunters Point Shipyard redevelopment project.

The numbers don't work for a Santa Clara stadium, Newsom said, and when the 49ers realize that, San Francisco's plan will look better and better.

The vote came after the football team spent an astonishing $4 million-plus on a campaign in a city with only 46,000 registered voters. Signs backing the 49ers sprang up in front yards across the community as the team carpet-bombed the city with TV spots, radio ads and campaign mailers.

It was a different story for opponents of the stadium, who managed to collect about $20,000, enough for some yards signs and some campaign handouts for the volunteers who knocked on doors.

The opposition's message was simple: The stadium deal is a financial loser for the city.

The 49ers "want to sell the people on the excitement, the glory and the jobs," Bailey said during the campaign.

Opponents pointed at stadium deals in cities like Cincinnati, Indianapolis and Oakland, where optimistic promises by football teams left taxpayers to deal with the financial wreckage when the stadiums were built.

But Santa Clara officials vowed that would never happen to them. By putting the stadium in a redevelopment area near the convention center and Great America amusement park, the city could use redevelopment money to finance its share of the project without ever touching its general funds.

The city has "iron-clad guarantees" that the 49ers will be responsible for any cost overruns on the stadium, said Pat Kolstad, a former Santa Clara councilman who backed the stadium. And because the facility will be run by a separate stadium authority, the city will not be on the hook if the financing plan for building and maintaining the stadium falls short.

"Our (deal) will be the measuring stick for all other stadium deals," he told The Chronicle's editorial board.

Under the deal, Santa Clara would put up $79 million, nearby hotels would provide $35 million through a voluntary tax, and the 49ers and the stadium authority would be responsible for the other $823 million. Stadium naming rights, concession agreements and seat licenses were among the anticipated sources for that cash.

Supporters argued that the agreement provides a financial windfall for the city. Not only would it provide thousands of jobs, but it also would bring in millions in new revenue, including a guaranteed $26 million for local schools.

The 49ers began planning for the South Bay stadium in 2006, after they broke off negotiations with San Francisco for a replacement for aging Candlestick Park, which lacks the high-priced amenities that can add cash to the team's bottom line.

But the city is going ahead with plans to build a 69,000-seat bayside stadium as part of the Hunters Point shipyard redevelopment project.

Chronicle Staff Writer David White contributed to this report.

E-mail John Wildermuth at jwildermuth@sfchronicle.com

This article appeared on page A - 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle