Source :- THE AGE NEWS
The chief executive of the San Francisco 49ers says the famous team is not trying to steal fans and that he was “starstruck” by the MCG, as he addressed for the first time the prostitute soliciting scandal that engulfed the owner of the famous NFL team.
“I’ve had the… pleasure of pretty much going to every venue in the world,” Al Guido said in an exclusive interview after attending the AFL qualifying final between Carlton and Geelong on Friday night at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
“I will tell you, I’m not often starstruck, but that hit me. One hundred thousand seated fans is not something I’ve ever seen before.”
The 49ers – one of the world’s top sporting franchises with 10 million fans that takes its name from the 1849 California gold rush – brought about 200 staff and players to Melbourne on a special Qantas A380 for a packed schedule of events ahead of Friday morning’s four-hour game against the Los Angeles Rams at the MCG in a blockbuster start to the National Football League (NFL) US football season.
Since arriving last Friday the San Francisco team has attended training sessions, schools and hospitals and set up a fan zone at Federation Square. Guido said sport was a unifying opportunity.
“We are not trying to steal fandom from … any AFL or rugby team. What we are trying to do is create supporters of all sports,” he said.
“We live in a very polarising world, and the one thing that I love about my industry is sports is one of the one things that brings people together from all walks of life,” he said.
“The reality is [on Friday at the MCG], two strangers, maybe somebody from San Francisco, maybe somebody from Melbourne, will be sitting next to each other wearing red jerseys. And they’ll immediately be high-fiving when something good happens. You tell me where else that happens in the world? Nowhere else than sports. ”
He also addressed for the first time a scandal that last month saw Jed York, the team’s principal owner and Guido’s predecessor as chief executive, arrested near a caravan park in Ohio in a police prostitution sting. York pleaded no contest to two misdemeanour charges of disorderly conduct and possessing criminal tools, paying fines of $US1150 (about $1600).
Court records show York was initially charged with engaging in prostitution, but prosecutors amended that to disorderly conduct. York was charged with possessing criminal tools for using his phone to respond to an undercover online prostitution advertisement, according to prosecutors.
It was revealed he had filed for divorce from his wife Daniella in May after 15 years of marriage.
The 49ers issued a statement saying it was a resolved legal matter and they would not be commenting further, but in his first public comments, Guido said Jed York and his family had led a “first class organisation”.
“I think the world of Jed and Danielle and the family care deeply about what they’re going through. I know he’s spending all of his time with his family and supporting the things that we need.”
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said the NFL was examining the incident and potential sanctions under its personal conduct policy. The organisation would make a formal statement later.
Guido said York would return to the franchise. “I look forward to having him come back and be a big part of this organisation as he has been.”
“This is a team sport all the way through, not just what happens on the field, but what happens in the front office. This organisation wouldn’t be where we are today without Jed York and the York family.”
The amount of the NFL deal with the Victorian government to host games is undisclosed but has been estimated to be up to $45 million for three years.
The Friday match is part of a record nine international games this season and later in the season the 49ers will play in Mexico. But first the NFL has allowed it to have the following three games at its famous Levi’s stadium south of San Francisco that seats only about 70,000 spectators.
On Sunday supporters of the 49ers – known as the Faithful – broke a Guinness Book of Records attempt for the world’s largest cheerleading display with 1424 participants.
“The game will come and go. But the impact that we leave will be powerful,” Guido said.
The 49ers – with their distinctive red livery – holds marketing rights in Mexico, the UK and United Arab Emirates – as part of an NFL deal. But not in Australia, although the team – the first to win five Super Bowl titles – is allowed to market here before its game.
The blue and yellow Los Angeles Rams – which has home team designation for the match on Friday – does hold rights for Australia.
Guido repeated that the 49ers “aspire to be the globe’s team” and that he personally had got a kick out of seeing some of the team’s players receive the passports for the first time.
Women are increasingly playing flag football (a non-contact version similar to touch football where snatching a flag substitutes for tackling) in the US. The game is an official sport of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics and Guido sees it and the 2032 Brisbane Olympics fitting together.
“And so for me, as Brisbane (Olympics) comes up, who knows? Maybe the Australian women’s and men’s flag football team are competing for a gold medal. Would that have happened if not for bringing a game here?”
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Stephen Brook is a special correspondent for The Age and CBD columnist for The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald. He was previously deputy editor of The Sunday Age. He is a former media editor of The Australian and spent six years in London working for The Guardian.Connect via X or email.
