In the latest move to keep the Giants baseball team in San Francisco, 49ers owner Eddie DeBartolo Jr. is proposing that the two teams work together to build an improved football-baseball stadium, a newspaper reported Sunday.
DeBartolo told the San Francisco Examiner that his plan is still sketchy but that such a cooperative venture may be the only way to keep the Giants in the San Francisco Bay area.
”I know (Giants owner) Bob Lurie would prefer a baseball-only facility,” DeBartolo told the Examiner from his Youngstown, Ohio, home. ”But after losing four times to the voting public, including this recent one in San Jose, maybe Bob would consider going with a dual-purpose stadium for the Giants and 49ers.”
He said both teams need a new ”first-class” stadium.
”I don`t see why we can`t put something together and coexist in a stadium. And I don`t mean Candlestick,” DeBartolo said.
Lurie, contacted at Saturday`s Giants game at Candlestick, had no comment.
He has said repeatedly in the past that he is interested in a baseball-only ballpark with an intimate environment for fans and players.
