San Francisco 2016 Plan Includes Proposed New 49ers Stadium as Centerpiece Olympic Venue

In an updated plan submitted to the U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC) today, the San Francisco Bid Committee included revised plans for the proposed new San Francisco 49ers stadium, currently scheduled to open in 2012, as a key venue. The 49ers Stadium would become the centerpiece Olympic Stadium for the period of the Games, hosting the Opening and Closing Ceremony, track and field competitions and the soccer finals. Planned temporary modifications to the stadium would provide an expanded playing surface and additional seating capacity, allowing 80,500 people to enjoy the Olympic and Paralympic Games first-hand.

A raised platform would provide the expanded Olympic and Paralympic playing surface in a solution made possible by the 49ers existing plans for a tower of suites on the West side of the proposed stadium, together with a large lower bowl and open North end zone, specially designed to make the stadium adaptable for the Olympic Games and Super Bowls.

"Last month I asked the 49ers to look at the stadium issue. While the stadium ultimately depends on reaching consensus on a larger Candlestick project, John York and the team's architects have come up with a workable and smart solution that clearly strengthens our bid. We recognized that building a stadium in San Francisco just for the Olympics -- only to tear it down after the Games -- just wouldn't work for us. As a matter of public policy, spending hundreds of millions of dollars for a temporary stadium in San Francisco would have been untenable," said Mayor Gavin Newsom. "The plan we submitted today is a plan possible only in the Bay Area, with the water, the open spaces and the sports venues that we all know and love -- we are appreciative of both the 49ers' teamwork and the valuable feedback provided by Peter Ueberroth and his team on our plan."

Scott Givens, San Francisco 2016 Managing Director said, "The ability to make the new 49ers stadium also work for the Olympic Games puts our bid in a really strong place. The Olympic Stadium will be a truly special place to bring the worlds' best athletes together in a sense of celebration, within sight of San Francisco's downtown skyline and in a state-of-the art venue. And all this can be done without compromising the 49ers commitment to create a world class game day experience for their fans."

About San Francisco 2016 Bid Committee

San Francisco 2016 is a not-for-profit organization established to lead the efforts to bring the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games to the San Francisco Bay Area. San Francisco 2016 is responsible for all related document submissions and procedural matters related to the United States Olympic Committee.