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Will the San Francisco 49ers Buy the San Jose Earthquakes?

The San Jose Earthquakes are up for sale. This news might interest the 49ers.
Grant Cohn|
May 4, 2024; Santa Clara, California, USA; (l to r) WBC Silver Featherweight Title Holder Ruben Villa , San Francisco 49ers linebacker Fred Warner (54) and Mexican NT and Chivas retired goalkeeper Oswaldo Sanchez pose for a photo before the start of the matchup between the San Jose Earthquakes and the Los Angeles FC at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Stan Szeto-Imagn Images
May 4, 2024; Santa Clara, California, USA; (l to r) WBC Silver Featherweight Title Holder Ruben Villa , San Francisco 49ers linebacker Fred Warner (54) and Mexican NT and Chivas retired goalkeeper Oswaldo Sanchez pose for a photo before the start of the matchup between the San Jose Earthquakes and the Los Angeles FC at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Stan Szeto-Imagn Images | Stan Szeto-Imagn Images

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San Francisco 49ers

The San Jose Earthquakes are up for sale.

They're an MLS soccer team that's currently owned by John Fisher, who also owns the A's. Now, he needs money to build a stadium for the A's in Las Vegas, so he's selling the Earthquakes. This news might interest the 49ers.

Their ownership group happens to really, really, really like soccer. They currently own a team in the English Premier League (Leeds United) and a team in the Scottish Premier League (Rangers FC). Is it possible they might want to add another soccer team to their portfolio, particularly one directly in their backyard?

Keep in mind, multi-club ownership is the new big thing in professional sports. Red Bull pioneered this approach. They own motorsports teams and soccer teams. They even have a minority ownership stake in Leeds United, so the 49ers know their business model.

This is what 49ers Enterprises aspires to become -- a Global, Multi-Sport Empire. This is what lots of teams aspire to become. The Red Sox also own Liverpool FC, and the Dodgers just bought the Lakers last month. Single-club ownership groups might not exist in 10 years. That's why the 49ers keep diversifying their portfolio.

If the 49ers buy the Earthquakes, they would have soccer teams in three different leagues. And I'm guessing the Earthquakes would generate much more revenue under the 49ers' ownership than they did under the A's ownership. Because the A's are a cheap, second-rate organization, and the 49ers are not.

At this point, I'd be surprised if the 49ers don't buy the Earthquakes.

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Grant Cohn
GRANT COHN

Grant Cohn has covered the San Francisco 49ers daily since 2011. He spent the first nine years of his career with the Santa Rosa Press Democrat where he wrote the Inside the 49ers blog and covered famous coaches and athletes such as Jim Harbaugh, Colin Kaepernick and Patrick Willis. In 2012, Inside the 49ers won Sports Blog of the Year from the Peninsula Press Club. In 2020, Cohn joined FanNation and began writing All49ers. In addition, he created a YouTube channel which has become the go-to place on YouTube to consume 49ers content. Cohn's channel typically generates roughly 3.5 million viewers per month, while the 49ers' official YouTube channel generates roughly 1.5 million viewers per month. Cohn live streams almost every day and posts videos hourly during the football season. Cohn is committed to asking the questions that 49ers fans want answered, and providing the most honest and interactive coverage in the country. His loyalty is to the reader and the viewer, not the team or any player or coach. Cohn is a new-age multimedia journalist with an old-school mentality, because his father is Lowell Cohn, the legendary sports columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1979 to 1993. The two have a live podcast every Tuesday. Grant Cohn grew up in Oakland and studied English Literature at UCLA from 2006 to 2010. He currently lives in Oakland with his wife.

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