Connor leak

w S e e N a e s o h n T

By Connor Leak

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First off, I would like to thank Mr. Greco, Mr. Taylor, and Ms. Parkinson from Freestyle for helping me with the problems in my research paper, film, and book layout. Next I would like to thank Cole Botsford, Tim Kawakami and Jack Hill for taking time out of their day and helping me tremendously with their terrific interviews. I would also like to thank the 49ers for being cooperative and generous with letting us tour the stadium. I am gracious to my mum for her diligent proofreading and the feedback she gave on my rough paper. Lastly, I’d like to thank my co-documentarian filmmaker, Andy Coan, for being awesome and coming through with the connections, and Drew Coan for helping me with the investigation of Levi’s Stadium.

Table of Contents Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Chapter 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Chapter 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Chapter 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Works Cited . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

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Preface I am the kind of person that gets a little frustrated when people don’t share my view on things.

As soon as I noticed how strongly people criticized Levi’s Stadium, of which I held a positive opinion, I was sitting in wait for a moment that I could try to prove those people wrong. When would that moment come? I wondered. How could I possibly try to argue with these people without looking like some angry fan? It took some time until I had found my opportunity. When the location-based Documentary research project confronted me at Freestyle Academy, I initially chose to do a documentary on an admittedly boring location that would not have been as fun or interesting as what I ultimately chose. But when my partner, Drew Coan, pitched his idea of doing the documentary on Levi’s Stadium, I could not turn down this enormous opportunity. Consequently, we set off, investing all we could into what people were saying about the stadium; just as we thought, the reviews of the stadium were very mixed. Our first interview would be our neutral ground, a take on what fans think about the stadium. Our next two interviews, however, were very tricky to get. It took some time, far more than the deadlines had provided, to secure and record these interviews. However, as difficult as the process was, the information that we gathered from them was vital to writing our respective papers and completing our film.

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Introduction It is common for us sports fans to focus on our teams.

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roughly the same amount it cost to build. Conversely, other bloggers point out all of the positives of the stadium. They note how well built it is, how well organized the 49ers operate it, and how friendly and welcoming is the staff. I believe that the first season of Levi’s Stadium shows great promise, and despite the complaints about the many issues the stadium needs to fix, it has achieved its goal of a successful season through the performance of the stadium, rather than the team.

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p a ter 1 h C

A Look At What’s to Come What makes a great stadium exactly?

Take Soldier Stadium in Chicago. Home of the Chicago Bears, it is a landmark of the city, of the state, of even the whole Mid-West. But it started out very different from Levi’s. Before becoming a football stadium, it had a long, 50 year history as hosting many events in the city of Chicago. It was clear from the start that this already historic stadium would become the icon that it is today.

Levi’s Stadium has not had such luck.

Being built in the shadow of historic Candlestick Park, the previous 49ers homefield, Levi’s would have to appease the old fans of Candlestick, while also pleasing the new millennials arriving at the games. Stuck in this unfortunate predicament, it is no surprise that sports columnists have been very disappointed with the stadium. Having gone to games at Candlestick Park, I know first-hand the insane fan-driven atmosphere that affects every fan attending the game.

Even my brother, who at the time didn’t know the difference between a “safety” and a “touchback” was cheering along with the whoops and jeers of the crowd.

Tim Kawakami, while reminiscing Candlestick mentioned that, “it had almost no other attributes other than to watch a football game, that’s what it is known for. You remember football, the emotion

of a football game.” How could anyone expect Levi’s to already be a landmark of the area on its first year of being open, while previous landmark stadiums like Candlestick and Soldier Field have gained their status through decades of legendary games and experiences. Looking at the future of Levi’s, you can clearly see the potential for this stadium to be great.

The 49ers, after coming off of a rough season at the stadium, will continue to play there for years to come. Jack Hill, 49er operator in charge of the stadium construction, says that when looking to the future, “These

stadiums mature as they get older,” Hill seemed fairly confident that as the stadium stacks up history, people will stop noticing these problems. He remarked, “[when] you start to build up some history, you start to build up around the 11

neighborhood [and then] some of the immediate fans will support the team.”

It’s clear that the stadium is destined to amass its history. The events that are held at Levi’s vary from an ICE hockey game to “WWE Wrestle-Ma-

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nia”, and coming soon, Super Bowl L is going to take place right in the heart of Santa Clara.

Kawakami expects that, “a stadium grows into itself over several years,” He also pointed out that great stadiums like the ones in Seattle,

Baltimore, Philadelphia, can always have bad starts.

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“These stadiums mature as they get older... [when] you start to build up some history, you start to build up around the neighborhood -

[and then] some of the immediate fans will support the team.�

- Jack Hill

p a h ter 2 C

Startup Problems

With Levi’s promising future, you may raise the question of why has there been controversy over the stadium’s potential. Despite what is to come, many critics have spotted the issues with the stadium as it is now.

What, then, are the problems plaguing it?

First, there is the issue of stadium transportation. Between two choices of transportation, the VTA and the freeway, it is clear that both choices have their positives and negatives.

Cole Botsford, season ticket holder at Levi’s and a 49er fan, recounted his first attempt at traveling to the stadium via freeway. He said that while arriving at the stadium was far easier than going to Candlestick, which all of our interviewees agree was one of Candlestick’s major faults,

he hit a “speedbump” when he was leaving a game with his family: “We hit tons of traffic and didn’t get out until at least 30 minutes later.” He said that it was clear the parking system at Levi’s needs to be improved, adding, “what we’ve seen was the parking traffic being so terrible, not only because of all the cars leaving at the same time, but [also] all the pedestrians crossing at random spots.” Even Jack Hill admitted, “parking, no doubt, was a challenge when we first started.” However, Hill and Kawakami both noted that the 49ers operations did a good job of receiving feedback and responding to the issues that people have had.

The second mode of transportation is the VTA Light Rail, which has a direct line arriv-

ing right at the stadium. The Light Rail spreads wide across Silicon Valley, allowing some people in the far South Bay to attend games for the first time.

The station located right at the foot-step of the stadium’s main entrance makes the VTA a very appealing option, however, personally, when I went for the first time, I found that taking tracks was a little hectic. Tim Kawakami asserts, “[It seems like] they (the 49ers operations) didn’t plan it, they just plopped the stadium when they could do it, and now they’re just trying to figure everything else out along the way.” This should not deter anyone from using these options. Both the freeway and VTA are viable and straightforward options that are somewhat easy to

[It seems like] they (the 49ers operations) didn’t plan it, they just plopped the stadium when they could do it, and now they’re just trying to figure everything else out along the way.”

-Tim Kawakami

use, and most of the time will get you out quickly. Other issues with the stadium range from the sun beating down too hard on one side of the bleachers, to an overabundance of suites and club levels, and to the high ticket prices compared to Candlestick and even other stadiums in the NFL. However, the issue that I feel is the most disheartening with the stadium is the reported “lack of soul.” Kawakami covers this idea extensively in one of his articles written four months into the season. He wrote that, despite its price, “this stadium doesn’t have an iconic feel to it, not at all.” When my partner and I met with Kawakami and discussed the topic, he believed that,” everything got kind of spread out away from the emotion of the football game… Tradition of great victories, hall of fame players, that did not translate to Levi’s stadium, that is the largest failure of the first season.”

While at the games, Kawakami noticed

there a noticeable amount of empty seats around the stadium, which detracted a lot from the overall atmosphere of the stadium. He compared the lacking energy of Levi’s with the fan-fueled excitement of the Seahawks stadium, which as he put it, “There’s this feeling… When the players walk out, there’s noise, when they run back in there’s noise, when Pete Carroll walks out there’s noise… there’s a trembling excitement.”

However, Levi’s lack of wildness mainly amounts to its lack of history and romanticism. Without these things, fans don’t have any urge, any drive to blast their vocal chords as loud as they can, which is a sure cause of the dull energy as described by Kawakami. “Why point out these problems?” One may ask.

“Don’t you think that the stadium’s first season has been successful?”

Yes, I do think so, but it should be noted in this that the stadium isn’t PERFECT. No stadium is, even great ones like Soldier’s Field. But the problems of Levi’s Stadium only makes its potential even greater. Stadiums like Levi’s improve their issues over time, and they become great. Finally, even though Levi’s first season was riddled with many problems and criticisms, the stadium’s first season has not failed to impress most of those attending.

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Chapter 3

Gold in the Pan

While you can list the problems with Levi’s at startup, you can make a list just as long, if not longer, of the successful aspects of the stadium. First is the location. Jack Hill noted, “The location of Levi’s worked out extremely well for us…” He said that the choice of the stadium’s location depended on it being an available area, but worked out tremendously.

He praised the location when he said, “you had a good environment with the city-council wanting to bring the 49ers to Santa Clara, so we were well received, and then things such as public transportation and the other features of the site... made it more convenient for our fans.” Hill mentioned that because of the large amount of fans utilizing the public transportation the stadium nurtures, Levi’s power saving techniques, and other ecologically friendly methods, the stadium opened with “League Gold” certification for environmental measures, the first time any stadium has opened with such a certification.

Cole Botsford, who has been going to 49ers games since the days of Candlestick, said that he preferred the new location: “it’s in a good central location, [and even people from]the south part of San Jose can make it to the games

now, instead of having to go all the way to San Francisco.”

The people of San Francisco are not forgotten, however. Since the Caltrain tracks and the VTA tracks are practically on the same rails, it is simple for the San Franciscans to flock to the stadium

stadium, and all remarked how well they were treated by the ushers, ticket takers, and even the concession attendants.

When looked at objectively, the stadium can be considered a major success through their profits. Mike Rosenburg writes in his on-going series of articles on the San Jose Mercury News website that the stadium has managed to match it’s construction price. When considering the 1.3 billion dollar price-tag, that’s a slick take.

The revenue generated has exceeded that of the projections, and any economist would consider the stadium’s first season a success in that accord.

Finally, take into account what sort of impact the stadium has brought to the area.

Levi’s deal with Santa Clara gives the city a cut of the profits and, with the revenue raked in, that is a pretty substantial take for the city.

Kawakami and Hill both agree the true impact of the stadium is “yet to be seen”; however, Hill points out that there was “over 8,000 people on game day. Another feature people employed out of Levi’s Stadium, so that found appealing about the stadium was had immediate impact” in regards to the the service that the 49ers provided. Fans, construction of the stadium. He also critics, and even the 49er operations were mentioned the “two-to-three thousand pleasantly surprised about the staff of the people on a permanent basis” who are 31

employed at the stadium and who work on setting up the numerous events that are held at Levi’s. Along with what the stadium has brought to Santa Clara’s econ-

omy, Cole Botsford has even noticed that since the opening of the stadium, “I’ve definitely seen more and more fans in the stadium and outside the stadium, and espe-

cially in the Silicon Valley-- this area I feel like there’s more fans that appreciate the Niners too…” This support, of course, is never a bad thing.

“I’ve definitely seen more and more fans in the stadium and outside the stadium, and especially in the Silicon Valley-- this area I feel like there’s more fans that appreciate the Niners too…”

-Cole Botsford

Conclusion

While Levi’s Stadium is not the perfect model of a what a true football stadium should be, it had many successes in its first season and shows real promise for the future.

While some issues, if left alone, could potentially damage the stadium and even the 49ers, I hold the same optimism that Cole Botsford, Jack Hill, Tim Kawakami, and the rest of the 49ers fanbase carry. I feel that Levi’s Stadium can and will be great, and that problems like the ones mentioned will be rectified swiftly and without mercy.

Works Cited Forbes. “San Francisco 49ers.” Forbes. Forbes Magazine, Aug. 2014. Web. 17 Apr. 2015.

“Interview of Cole Botsford.” Personal interview. 25 Feb. 2015.

“Interview of Jack Hill.” Personal interview. 20 Mar. 2015.

“Interview of Tim Kawakami.” Personal interview. 21 Mar. 2015.

Kawakami, Tim. “Kawakami: Cash Register: The 49ers’ Profit-margin in San ta Clara, Starting next Year, Will Be LARGE.” Talking Points. San Jose Mercury News, 30 Aug. 2013. Web. 27 Mar. 2015.

Kawakami, Tim. “Kawakami: Levi’s Lethargy, Part 1: Four Months In, Some thing Is Not Quite Right with Santa Clara’s Dead Red Stadium.” Talking Points. San Jose Mercury News, 06 Dec. 2014. Web. 27 Mar. 2015.

Rosenburg, Mike. “49ers New Santa Clara Stadium Cost Goes up Again -- to $1.3 Billion.” - San Jose Mercury News. San Jose Mercury News, 2014.

Web. 16 Apr. 2015.

Rosenburg, Mike. “49ers Stadium Revenue Tops $1 Billion after Santa Clara Leaders Approve Levi’s Stadium Name Deal.” - San Jose Mercury News.

San Jose Mercury News, 2015. Web. 27 Mar. 2015.

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Connor Leak is a Junior at Los Altos High and Freestyle Academy. He has lived in Los Altos for all of his life.

Connor enjoys watching and making films as well as making graphic designs at Freestyle. He also spends his time after school as a starter on the Los Altos Lacrosse team. One day, Connor hopes to be the leader of something, perhaps a commune or a village, and he hopes to rule oppressively with an iron fist. If this doesn’t work out, he hopes to eventually go to college and study what he has learned at Freestyle.

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