The San Jose Sharks Extend Their Lease Through 2025

The City of San Jose and the San Jose Sharks have come to an agreement that will guarantee the Sharks continue to play at the SAP Center until at least 2025. The agreement also allows for annual extensions that can continue all the way up until the year 2040. I don't think anyone expected them to go elsewhere, but now this cements the team in San Jose for at least another decade. By then, perhaps it will be time to build a newer arena in Downtown San Jose.

Source: Bleacher Report

The Sharks' New Minor League Hockey Team will be Named the San Jose Barracuda

Now that the Sharks' minor league AHL farming team--named the Worcester Sharks--is moving in with their parents at the SAP Center, they can't exactly keep the same name. After the move they will become the San Jose Barracuda. Conveniently, there is also a tech company in Silicon Valley called Barracuda Networks... guess who the team's chief sponsor is going to be ;).

The new team will be a huge benefit to San Joseans. Dozens of games will be added to the roster at the SAP Center, and the prices will be substantially more affordable than Sharks games (which quickly get into triple digits for good seats).

Check out the new logo and jerseys below. What do you think? My favorite is the orange one.

Source: SVBJ

The Sharks are Moving Their Minor League Team to SAP Center!

The San Jose Sharks are going to be one of the first NHL teams to have their minor league (AHL) affiliate play in the same arena. The "minor league Sharks" are going to be moved from Massachusetts to San Jose this October, and will be playing 38 AHL home games at SAP. This is of course great news for Downtown, which will see even more visitors and activity during game nights. The AHL games will cost substantially less than the NHL games and will hopefully make hockey accessible to more people in the area.

Source: SVBJ

Sharks Fan Fest this Weekend!

Right before the Saturday, Sep. 27 preseason game at SAP Center, the Sharks are hosting their first Fan Fest. This includes all sorts of activities for fans such as watching the Sharks practice at SAP Center, taking photos with the Shark Head on the ice [awesome!], and player/alumni autographs. There will also be roundtable sessions with players and coaches moderated by the new Sharks broadcast team and concessions will be open for meals and snacks. Outside of the Shark Tank, you can expect an entertainment area for kids and music.

It all starts in a couple days at 9:15am and complimentary parking is going to be available at SAP Center's A, B, and C parking lots. Speaking of free parking...the entire event is completely FREE, but you will need to reserve tickets here. This is a great way to say thank you to the fans for their support!

Source: San Jose Sharks

Die Hards Co. Kickstarter!

San Jose natives Adam and Ben Mayberry launched the Die Hards Co. four years ago with the mission of creating unique gear for die hard Bay Area sports fans. Now they are ready to take their company to the next level with higher-quality apparel made locally in the Bay Area that will perfectly match the official colors of all seven Bay Area teams. The team launched a Kickstarter to turn their entrepreneurial dreams into a reality. Combined with a Creative Industries Incentive Fund grant that they received from the City of San Jose, this campaign will have a huge impact on helping a local San Jose business achieve success.

The best part is that they already hit their goal, meaning any pledges $5 or more will receive a guaranteed reward. To find out more, watch the video below and then head over to the Kickstarter page to contribute!

Bay Area Sports Apparel From  The DIE HARDS COMPANY Announces Launch Of A KICKSTARTER To Manucature Made In The Bay Area Apparel

SAN JOSE, Calif.,—Since 2010, local clothing company, The Die Hards Company. has been providing Bay Area sports fans apparel, including t-shirts, sweaters and hats, to wear proudly when cheering on their favorite team.  Their tagline “Sport Your Colors” is the foundation for their brand as they strictly cater to the loyal fans of the seven professional sports teams in the San Francisco Bay Area.

With innovative designs—including their best-selling “Hella,” “Fin City” and “I Survived the Stick” t-shirts—The Die Hards Co. has continued to grow, mostly from their strong social media presence. With their 4th Anniversary closing in, they intend to take their company to the next level.

The Die Hards Co. is pleased to announce the launch of a Kickstarter campaign to crowd source the funds needed to manufacture their tshirts using factories in the Bay Area.  Previously they have purchased shirts from companys that sew they blank shirt options over seash.

Through the City of San Jose Office of Cultural Affairs and the Center for Cultural Innovation, they were selected to receive the Creative Industries Incentive Fund grant. Using Kickstarter to match the funds provided in the grant, we can produce high quality, Made in the Bay Area shirts matching official colors of all seven Bay Area teams.  Without these funds they would not be able to meet the minimums needed for manufacturing

San Jose Spiders - New Ultimate Frisbee Pro Team!

The newest pro sport to find its way to San Jose isn't Baseball or Basketball... it's Ultimate Frisbee. The league is owned by Cisco executive Rob Lloyd (potentially the next Cisco CEO) and the team is backed by Lightspeed Venture Partners. Apparently Silicon Valley is ground zero for Ultimate Frisbee, which has become the preferred sport for techies (perhaps one day we'll see pro Quidditch as well). Even the name San Jose Spiders is a tech reference--search engines send spiders to crawl the Internet for data.

The Spiders will have their inaugural season in April. Home games will be played at Foothill College for now, and hopefully they will move to the city they're named after at some point in the future.

For more information and tickets, head over to the San Jose Spiders website over here.

Source: SVBJ

San Jose Earthquakes 40th Anniversary Celebration!

The Quakes have been representing San Jose for four decades now, and they hosting a big party to celebrate on January 30th at the San Pedro Square Market. There will be live music, a meet & greet with the players, and they are giving away an autographed 2014 Earthquakes jersey. However, the highlight of the night will probably be the big reveal of their brand new logo and jersey.

The festivities go from 5:30pm to 9pm. The event is free and you can RSVP right over here.

Sharks Planning SAP Center and Sharks Ice Upgrades

Last month John Tortora, the COO of Sharks Sports & Entertainment, made several interesting comments about the future of the Shark Tank and Sharks Ice (the Sharks' practice facility which is also open to the public). It sounds like he is interesting in remodeling the SAP Center to keep it competitive for prestigious events, especially given the $1.3 billion stadium going up in Santa Clara. One of the specific things he mentioned is rolling out new technology like in-seat food and merchandise delivery. This is exactly what the 49ers are planning for the new stadium--a mobile app is used to have items delivered right to your seat.

Tortora also has plans to expand the Sharks Ice facility a stones-throw away from Downtown San Jose. It is already the largest ice facility west of the Mississippi, but he would like to take it from four sheets of ice to six. The total cost of that project would be in the $60 million range.

Source: SVBJ

Levi's Stadium Aerial View

Here is a view of the 49ers Stadium circa early December courtesy of someone's personal drone. Since this was taken the seats have all been put in, the lighting is just about done, and the massive scoreboard is functional.

Source: Usedmedia from the Santa Clara County Development Forum

Silicon Valley (Santa Clara and San Jose) Hosting WrestleMania 31 in 2015

Levi's Stadium has landed yet another huge event, and San Jose will be one of the key benefactors. WrestleMania is from what I understand like the Super Bowl of wrestling events. The last one completely sold out the MetLife Stadium in New York (2nd photo below), generated $100 million in economic impact for the host area, and over one million people purchased it on pay-per-view. While I was not one of those people, I greatly appreciate the fact that the new stadium is bringing WrestelMania 31 to the area in 2015.

How exactly will San Jose benefit? WrestleMania Axxess--a four day interactive fan festival--will take place at the San Jose Convention Center. The 2015 WWE Hall of Fame Induction will be at the SAP Center, as will the Monday Night Raw event. Other parties and events will likely also be held in the Downtown San Jose area, which make perfect sense given it's just a quick Lightrail or Amtrak ride away. Visitors will most likely be flying in via San Jose International and I bet quite a few extra hotel rooms will be booked Downtown or along North First specifically for this event.

WrestleMania 31 goes down on Sunday, March 29, 2015. I hope we'll see many more big events like this at the Stadium where there is a direct positive impact to San Jose.

Source: Levi's Stadium News

CONTEST: Die Hard Sharks Hoodie!

Our friends over at Die Hard Co. are so excited about the end of the NHL lockout, they are giving away a Sharks hoodie and a tee!

The contest is simple. All you need to do is follow the directions in the little widget below to enter. You can also get bonus entries from liking Die Hard Co. and The San Jose Blog on Facebook, following our Twitter feeds, etc. It's a neat little app and we will very likely be using it for future contests as well.

Good luck everyone! The contest runs until next Thursday morning. Winner announced on Friday the 18th.

Earthquakes Stadium Groundbreaking Ceremony is on October 21!

Well, it looks like there is one San Jose stadium that is in the bag. The groundbreaking ceremony for the $60M Earthquakes stadium is taking place Sunday, October 21st at 1125 Coleman Avenue. So far multiple Fortune 100 companies have shown interest in naming rights and 7UP Bottling has already become a founding partner and sponsor.

The team is even shooting for the Guiness World Record for largest groundbreaking ceremony. 4,533 people will have to dig with commemorative shovels for 2 minutes in order to break the current record which was set in India. If you want to participate in the record breaking, sign up right over here!

Source: SJBJ

Vote For Your Favorite Earthquakes Players!

The Official Major League Soccer All-Star Ballot is now live and you can vote for all of your favorite Earthquakes players right over here. The All-Star game will be against Manchester United on July 27th, so it's guaranteed to be a great game!

The SaberCats are Back!

Not only are the SaberCats back, but they still have the goods! After a 2 year hiatus, the 3-time ArenaBowl champions were able to defeat the Spokane Shock (current league champions) 76 to 48. Read all about it and see the upcoming game schedule over here.

Baseball San Jose: Congrats to the Earthquakes!

Congratulations on a Great Season, San Jose Earthquakes

from Baseball San Jose by noreply@blogger.com (DLo)

Unfortunately, the Quakes' thrilling post-season run came to an end in Colorado last night.Though it was a disappointing elimination, the Quakes have every reason to be proud of their work this season. They have firmly reestablished themselves as major players in Major League Soccer, so watch for even bigger seasons ahead.

Speaking of upcoming seasons, Earthquakes (and A's) owner Lew Wolff announced this week that fans should have a new stadium in which to enjoy games by no later 2013. This is exciting news for Bay Area soccer fans, but it also bodes well for our own efforts to build a downtown ballpark. As with the Quakes, bigger seasons lie ahead for the A's—in San Jose.

You're up to bat, San Jose!

The San Jose SaberCats are Back!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE     

October 27, 2010

SABERCATS ANNOUNCE 2011 SCHEDULE

SAN JOSE – The San Jose SaberCats return to the Arena Football League will be marked by an 18-game schedule, marking the longest in AFL history, with the SaberCats opening against ArenaBowl XXIII champion, the Spokane Shock. Other notable games include a rematch at home of the SaberCats last game in ArenaBowl XXII with the Philadelphia Soul and a road meeting with the reigning American Conference champion Tampa Bay Storm to cap off the regular season.

“We are very excited about the return of arena football to San Jose,” said head coach Darren Arbet. “I’m happy that our fans will get the chance to see some great competition coming to HP Pavilion with teams that have enjoyed great success over the years. We’re looking forward to getting on the field and working on bringing a fourth ArenaBowl championship to the SaberCats organization.”

San Jose kicks off their return to play with a home game on March 11 against the reigning AFL champion and division opponent Spokane Shock, marking the first meeting between the two franchises. The following week, the SaberCats welcome the Kansas City Command for the first time since 2008 before traveling to Chicago for their first road game against the Rush who finished 10-6 in 2010.

San Jose will play host to the Iowa Barnstormers, for the first time since 1999 on April 1 before welcoming their next division opponent, the Utah Blaze, whom the SaberCats hold a 5-1 regular season record against. San Jose will then travel to Tulsa, for their first ever game with the Talons on April 16.

In Week 7, the SaberCats return home to HP Pavilion in hopes of avenging their ArenaBowl XXII loss to the Philadelphia Soul in 2008 prior to their first bye. On May 7, San Jose takes on another division opponent, the Arizona Rattlers who they hold a 19-14 all-time record against, including the postseason. The SaberCats then head to Pittsburgh in Week 10 in a battle of expansion franchises. After a second tilt with the Blaze in Utah on May 21, the Georgia Force come to San Jose, with the SaberCats holding a 5-2 record in those contests.

San Jose plays the first of three consecutive road games, beginning with the Dallas Vigilantes in Week 13 for just their second matchup in the last five years before heading into another bye week. After making their way south to play Arizona on June 18, the SaberCats wrap up their central division slate with a matchup at Cleveland to take on the Gladiators for the first time since their move from Las Vegas.

San Jose concludes their home schedule with two southern division opponents. First, they take on the Jacksonville Sharks on July 2, in their first ever meeting. The SaberCats then welcome the two-time ArenaBowl champion Orlando Predators, marking the seventh regular season match between the two storied franchises with San Jose holding a 5-1 all-time record.

The SaberCats close out the season on the road against both participants from ArenaBowl XXIII. They travel north for their second meeting with the Shock on July 16 before heading cross country for their regular season finale with the Tampa Bay Storm, where San Jose has won six out of the last seven regular season matchups.

2011 SABERCATS REGULAR SEASON SCHEDULE

Date	Opponent	Pacific Time
Friday, March 11	Spokane	7:30 p.m.
Friday, March 18	Kansas City	7:30 p.m.
Friday, March 25	@Chicago	5:30 p.m.
Friday, April 1	Iowa	7:30 p.m.
Friday, April 8	Utah	7:30 p.m.
Saturday, April 16	@Tulsa	5:00 p.m.
Saturday, April 23	Philadelphia	7:30 p.m.
BYE
Saturday, May 7	Arizona	7:30 p.m.
Saturday, May 14	@Pittsburgh	4:30 p.m.
Saturday, May 21	@Utah	2:00 p.m.
Saturday, May 28	Georgia	7:30 p.m.
Saturday, June 4	@Dallas	5:30 p.m.
BYE
Saturday, June 18	@Arizona	5:05 p.m.
Saturday, June 25	@Cleveland	4:00 p.m.
Saturday, July 2	Jacksonville	7:30 p.m.
Saturday, July 9	Orlando	7:30 p.m.
Saturday, July 16	@Spokane	7:00 p.m.
Saturday, July 23	@Tampa Bay	4:30 p.m.

*All dates and times are subject to change. All changes will be publicized on thesanjosesabercats.com, www.facebook.com/sanjosesabercats, http://twitter.com/SJSaberCats as well as through the local print, electronic and internet media.

The XVI, XVIII and XXI ArenaBowl champion, San Jose SaberCats, return to the Arena Football League for their 15th season starting in 2011. The SaberCats began play in 1995, playing their home games at HP Pavilion. Fans and sponsors can go to www.thesanjosesabercats.com or call 408-673-3400 to sign up to receive the latest news and updates about the SaberCats, as well as to pre-register for ticket information. Make sure to follow the SaberCats on Facebook and Twitter for all the latest news on the team.

-CATS-

One Less Hurdle for the San Jose A's!

The owners of the Sharks have made it pretty well known that they are not satisfied with the environmental impact report (EIR) for the proposed San Jose A's stadium downtown. Their major concern is lack of parking for days in which there would be BOTH hockey and baseball games. Well I found some good news in the San Jose Business Journal today. The owners of the Sharks have come to an agreement with the city where they will be able to build a new parking structure for Sharks fans, even if it comes down to requiring eminent domain to collect the necessary parcels. There are still many challenges in getting the A's to San Jose, but this will be one less roadblock in the way!