INDIANAPOLIS, Feb. 2 (UPI) -- The San Francisco 49ers have been loaned $200 million by the NFL to help with the building of a new stadium in Santa Clara, Calif.
The Santa Clara Stadium Authority approved an $850 million construction loan for the stadium last month. With the loan from the NFL, groundbreaking on the $1.02 billion, 68,500-seat stadium could take place in the next few months.
The facility would then be expected to open in late summer 2014.
"With the NFL's muscle now behind the new stadium, we are moving forward," said 49ers Chief Executive Officer Jed York. "I expect an official groundbreaking ceremony very soon. Get your hard hats ready; we are embarking on the path to the next generation of 49ers football."
The team already has its offices and training facilities in Santa Clara, about 45 miles south of San Francisco.
The team has played in Candlestick Park, which has undergone a series of name changes, since 1971.
The loan to the 49ers is the first from the NFL's "new stadium fund," which was established as part of the league's new collective bargaining agreement.
