The San Francisco 49ers are looking into relocating their practice facility. And, in a surprisingly ironic way, it has nothing to do with electrical substation theories.
49ers CEO Al Guido revealed in an interview with The Athletic’s Vic Tafur that the organization is exploring a possible nearby move of its practice facility after spending money on an updated weight room as well as hydrotherapy. The reason, per Tafur, is that the 49ers “are running out of space at and next to Levi’s Stadium.
The timing will inevitably invite speculation, given how loud the conversation around the team’s current home has gotten over the past couple of years. The 49ers have been based at their Santa Clara facility since 1988, with Levi’s Stadium opening next door in 2014. In recent seasons, a viral theory spread online suggesting that a nearby electrical substation is responsible for the team’s persistent injury problems, which have ranked among the worst in the NFL over that stretch.
The theory gained enough traction that it stopped being a fringe internet rumor and started becoming a legitimate organizational headache. Players noticed. Fans noticed. And eventually, the front office had to respond.
General manager John Lynch addressed the substation theory directly earlier this year, revealing the organization retained a scientist with more than four decades of experience studying electromagnetic fields. The findings offered no support for the theory.
“We’re safe,” Lynch said. “We’re in a safe place of work, the levels I think I read in (the report) are 400 times less than unsafe zones. So it’s a normal place of work, it’s a normal gym. We are safe, we’re healthy and we feel really good about that.”
Whether or not the substation played any role in San Francisco’s mounting injury toll isn’t really provable, one way or another. A rival executive believes the 49ers’ injury concerns are simply because of the players they bring into the organization. But the theory was sticky enough that it won’t die quietly, regardless of what any report says.
That’s part of what makes a potential facility move so interesting. On paper, the team has outgrown its current location and needs more space. In practice, relocating would carry a secondary benefit of finally ending the substation theory, even if it’s true.
No timeline for any move has been reported, and the comments suggest it remains in the early exploration phase. But for a franchise that has spent the better part of two years fielding questions about power lines and player health, a fresh address might be as much about optics as square footage.
This article originally appeared on Niners Wire: 49ers ‘exploring’ facility move, but not because of the substation
Reporting by Oliver G., Niners Wire / Niners Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Oliver G., Niners Wire | USA TODAY Network
