Shocking exodus continues for post-Harbaugh 49ers

Submitted by KO Stradivarius on

Mark Purdy is a columnist for the San Jose Mercury News, he talks about the mass exodus from the 49er's.  So much for the BS that the players did not like Harbaugh.

Here's the link to the story:

 http://www.mercurynews.com/mark-purdy/ci_27680391/purdy-worst-day-49ers-history

Yet in almost all respects, team owner Jed York and general manager Trent Baalke can blame only themselves for the mess. They teed it all up with their clumsy handling of former coach Jim Harbaugh's departure (although he wasn't entirely blameless). Then they exacerbated it with their professions of "winning with class" while in too many cases ignoring their own slogan.

Nacho Man

March 10th, 2015 at 1:58 PM ^

Yep, looks like Willis is going to retire. He's been huge for their defense over the last 8 or so years. 

Now that the 49ers got the new stadium, they have absolutely no interest in making sure a good team is fielded. It's strange how the dynamics work in this new NFL, and you can make more money as a loser in certain places than a winner.

Larry Appleton

March 10th, 2015 at 2:05 PM ^

They made the playoffs 6 times in the 90s. Then Millen comes in. In Year 2 of the Millen regime, Ford Field opens. Every home game was a sellout for years, and thus the Fords were a-ok with being the worst team in football. It wasn't until 2008, when the sellout streak ended, that Millen was canned.

Tater

March 10th, 2015 at 2:22 PM ^

Ford Field didn't "ruin the Lions;" WCF ruined the Lions.  That's what Bobby Layne most likely meant when he said the Lions wouldn't amount to anything for fifty years.  It probably wasn't a curse: just an astute observation by a great QB.  He knew WCF was an idiot and would be around a long time.

The Mad Hatter

March 10th, 2015 at 2:02 PM ^

were selling out Ford Field even during their worst seasons.  Unless fans are willing to vote with their wallets and give up season tickets, nothing will change.  Why would an owner give a shit if their team is any good if the $ is still rolling in when they're not?

mGrowOld

March 10th, 2015 at 2:11 PM ^

You make more money losing than winning?

Holy shit - NOW I get my Cleveland Browns strategy.  We must be the richest orginzation in the history of the NFL then.

Suck that Patriots & rest of AFC North.  Your balance sheet's not as good as ours.

Nacho Man

March 10th, 2015 at 2:03 PM ^

They're doing this because they got their stadium built with a ton of new luxury boxes. Since the SF area is swimming in cash right now due to Silicon Valley, they probably already have those sold out for years to come. 

No need to field a good team, because the seats will be full regardless. Any big contracts are just money being flushed down the toilet and detract from the bottom line. 

OccaM

March 10th, 2015 at 2:03 PM ^

Really? B/c I was under the perception they were struggling to fill the stadium... 

 

On another note, it seems like the Harbaugh allies in that locker room are being shed off by York, Tomsula and Baalke. 

SMJenkins3

March 10th, 2015 at 2:06 PM ^

Basically everybody thought the tickets were going to be really hot last year.  Tons of people bought season tickets with the sole purpose of reselling them.  Then the season started and there was almost no market.  I doubt they have very many season ticket renewals this year.  

Nacho Man

March 10th, 2015 at 2:21 PM ^

The new stadium has 165 suites. Candlestick Park had 100 suites.

Let's guess that the average suite is somewhere around $25k per game. That is $33,000,000 per season in suite revenue now, and $20,000,000 in the old stadium. 

 

The difference of $13M in revenue between new and old just from the suites equates to about 130,000 tickets in the general public. This means they can have 13,250 empty seats at each game and still make the same as in the old model. Even with players being cut, they will probably still sell more season tickets than this.Witht players being cut, they save many millions per year on salaries.

It's all about the economics. 

Nacho Man

March 10th, 2015 at 2:35 PM ^

Agreed. They will all be purchased by corporations who will use them every week to entertain clients. Most people will spend almost no time watching the game in these boxes. 

SMJenkins3

March 10th, 2015 at 2:04 PM ^

they are setting Tomsula up to fail so they can bring in a higher profile coach in a year or two.  There  really weren't any high profile coaches on the market this year (other than Harbaugh).  Maybe they try to get Mora again or Kelly next year.  Another year an there may be more high profile college coaches leaving.  

 

Or (more likily) the 49ers' management is just dumb.

 

"Mr. Tomasula wants to play dirty...well nothing is dirtier than a giant ball of oil."

KO Stradivarius

March 10th, 2015 at 2:03 PM ^

for them, good day for us.  We have Harbaugh - they don't

By any measure, it was one of the worst offseason days in 49ers franchise history. It was your standard harmonic convergence of roster meltdown, free-agent horror and one more player being arrested for domestic violence.

Bigfoot

March 10th, 2015 at 2:10 PM ^

Elevenwarriors had a topic about harbaugh leaving the niners bare like urban did Florida. They didnt realize jim wasn't the gm. Reading that site makes me wonder if I've gone crazy sometimes.

Yostbound and Down

March 10th, 2015 at 2:16 PM ^

Theoretically the Niners aren't losing a ton: Gore can be arguably replaced by Carlos Hyde, Borland can fill the gap missing with Willis gone.

Problem is Bowman was hurt all last year and may never be as good as he once was, Hyde may not be the warhorse Gore was, Smith has no replacement, Borland isn't as good as Willis, you have a rookie head coach replacing a coach who had one of the best four year runs in NFL history, they don't have confidence in their quarterback, Iupati might leave, etc. And Arizona and St. Louis are both on the rise in the division, and Seattle won't be losing much from their team which was the second best in football.

It speaks directly to York and presumably Baalke. It doesn't quite remind me of Jerry Jones-level meddling but it's not far off and York in particular has no clue what he's doing.

WolvinLA2

March 10th, 2015 at 2:41 PM ^

Harbaugh did well in SF, but one of the best four year runs in NFL history? Hardly. Lots of coaches have had four year runs that included at least one SB win or at least multiple losses. That wasn't even the best run during those four years - I would say Belichick, Carroll and his brother all did better over the last four years.