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49ers Stadium Opponents Not Keen Over Proposed Great America Sale

SANTA CLARA (KCBS) – The proposed sale of California's Great America theme park to a San Francisco real estate investment firm is not going over well with opponents of a proposed San Francisco 49ers stadium in Santa Clara.

Great America generates about $5 million a year for the city of Santa Clara. Bill Bailey with Santa Clara Plays Fair, an anti-stadium group, said he wants to know if those payments will continue under the new owners, JMA Ventures.

KCBS' Matt Biger Reports:

"I would like to be sure that any current lease agreement, one, that JMA is able to operate a theme park and two, that we will enjoy the same lease payments into our city's general fund that we got from Cedar Fair," Bailey said.

Cedar Fair, the current owners of the theme park, have sued the city and the 49ers over the stadium deal. But Santa Clara Mayor Jamie Matthews said this proposed purchase essentially takes them out of the picture.

"It allows us to move forward with someone who is excited about the interactivity and other possibilities on the site that will make this a destination," he said.

The San Jose Mercury News reported that the owners of the 49ers are investors in the deal, although their level of investment has not been disclosed.

(Copyright 2011 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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