As someone who grew up in the bay area, and attended 49er games (We sent off the coupons from the Christopher Milk half gallon cartons and received free nosebleed seats) at Kezar Stadium, where you needed a rain coat on clear days because of the seagulls, I knew that one day the 49ers would be great. I lived in Southern Cal in the '80s when the 49ers never lost in Anaheim. It was a good time to be a 49er fan. Nowadays things are different, and I am going to sing the same song Dixie. Willie Brown instituted a policy in San Francisco when he was mayor that basically said that if you do business with or in the City, you must have domestic partner benefits. I am not sure of the specifics of when it happened, but from the way the 49ers have been playing, it was probably about six years ago. I think the Raiders decided to follow suit, and they are feeling the effect also. Can you tell that not having any + numbers doesn't really bother me? Aside from the dpb issue, I would argue that the local economy affects how professional teams do. If the local economy is in a major downturn, then generally speaking the professional sports teams are down also. This is not a hard and fast rule. It is an observation I have made over time. I wonder if I can get to 100 minuses before I get a plus on my profile. Walmart and Exxon Mobil are the Number one and two companies in the US mainly due to the fact that they do not offer dpb. They are the most disliked companies because there is a concerted PR campaign by groups that disagree with their policy.
Lilsson