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49ers Owners Should Take Notes From Rams, Broncos.
June 13 2002
By Bryan Hersh of 49ers Paradise
It is not often that owners are told to take a page out another team’s book. But I firmly believe that it’s time that the Yorks began to take note of what some of the other teams are doing around the league to accommodate their fans. In particular a look at how the Broncos and the Rams have been improving public relations.

In Denver and St. Louis, may club seat fans are not happy with how the team has been treating them. These club seat fans are withholding payments (something I don’t condone) on their seats until they get their wishes. And it seems that although the team is interested in the fans money, they are also interested in meeting the requests of their fans.

Both the Rams and the Broncos owners have stated that they want to better the overall experience of going to the game. It’s for that reason that they offer some wider seats, with more leg rooms. It’s why the teams are offering more and better concessions and even a pre-game buffet. The greatest addition of all though, is not the TV lounges; rather it’s the increase in restrooms throughout the stadium.

Not every 49ers fan wants a new stadium. Many believe it will bring greater ticket prices, and season ticket holders may have to re-purchase a license to their seats. Still others believe that with more seats in the stadium, there tickets will be moved farther from the field. While there’s no denying that most of those complaints will likely come true, it’s very hard to ignore the opposition.

There was a time, when the greatest complaints about a new stadium were that it would not possess the same nostalgia as The ‘Stick (ok, so what did you want me to call it?) or that it should or shouldn’t have a mall attached to it. But with restrooms cramped, and virtually impossible to get into because of the lines, concession stands that offer little selection, and lines nearly as long as those for the washrooms, the argument now is based solely on money.

It is time the Yorks got to work on a stadium for the team. One with wide hallways, good plumbing, one that would make the team and the city proud. The Yorks’ should take a page from the Rams and Broncos Ownership Manual, and try to improve the overall experience of going to a game - and it should start with a new stadium.

Talk about it in the 49ers Paradise Forum

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