SAP Center in San Jose will have plenty of company when Google begins construction for a downtown village and other projects around the arena (photo from Sports Net)

By Daniel Dullum and Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE–Back in November 2020 a San Jose Sharks press release to fans and media said the team was considering the possibility of moving out of SAP Center and San Jose if a proposal between Google and the City of San Jose is not met regarding selling SAP Center parking lots A, B, and C to Google which are located right in front of the arena which would be used for Google parking. Google is planning to build a downtown west village and other construction projects around SAP Center.

Sharks Sports and Entertainment strongly made it clear to the city and Google that they wanted to work with them and that purchasing the parking lots for Google’s use was at one time on the table. But since November have not moved an inch on their plans. Google and the city are sticking to what they have on the drawing board and what the Sharks are afraid of a huge downtown village and project with massive construction that would impede the Sharks conducting business, huge traffic snarls, and multiple construction projects for Google’s downtown village.

SAP and Shark Sports Entertainment reiterated again on Sunday through a press release that the city and Google have not revised their documents and looks like they will go forward with their plans that still would require huge traffic environment impacts in the Santa Clara Street downtown west area where SAP is located that would interfere with arena business whether for hockey games or concerts.

In the November letter the Sharks have said for more than a year they have shared their concerns with Google and the city about the massive proposed development projects around the arena that would cause gridlock and cause backed up traffic for fans trying to get to Sharks and Barracuda hockey games. The letter went onto say “Unfortunately, those discussions have yielded limited results and the planners of these projects appear intent on moving forward in a manner that could force the Sharks out of San Jose.”

The new SAP and Sharks letter from Sunday says that the Sharks have tried to work the parking lot issues out with the city and Google but as the documents show they will not modify their construction plans around the arena and the purchasing of parking lots A, B, C, are off the table.

There will be a final phase meeting at the San Jose Planning Commission on April 28th to allow the public to speak and most likely fans and administration staff of the San Jose Sharks not limited to Team President Jonathan Becher who said in November that the Sharks moving out of San Jose would be a last resort. Another meeting on May 25th will be scheduled in front of the city council.

In the event that Google and the City go forward with their plans on the drawing board and the worst case scenario the Sharks decide to move out of San Jose two locations the Chase Center in San Francisco and Golden One Center in Sacramento were raised but neither have NHL regulation ice or dimensions for ice hockey. The Oakland Coliseum Arena which had NHL hockey in the 1970s with the defunct California Golden Seals is the only other possible place left in the Bay Area.

The only other place that has a ready made NHL facility is in Quebec City Canada where Quebec has been waiting for a hockey team since the Nordiques left to become the Colorado Avalanche in 1995. The fans in San Jose have voiced their objections regarding the Google construction because the Sharks have been such a huge part of the San Jose community since they moved into SAP Center in 1993.

Marko Ukalovic is a San Jose Barracuda beat writer and Daniel Dullum hosts Headline Sports podcasts at http://www.sportsradioservice.com