The San Francisco 49ers NFL franchise has secured funding for a new 68,500-seat stadium in Santa Clara.

The 49ers, one of the NFL's most successful franchises with five Super Bowl wins, have been involved in negotations about the controversial move to Santa Clara for a number of years. The club's headquarters and training ground are already located in the town, though at present home games are still played in San Francisco, the team's home since 1946.

Now the Santa Clara authorites have agreed to contribute US$90 million towards the cost of a new stadium in the South Bay area, as well as paying US$62 million to move an electricity substation and build a new parking garage at the site.

"It's an exceptional deal for the city, and I'm looking forward to everyone getting a chance to see it," said Santa Clara City councilman Jamie Matthews. "It's really the greatest economic-stimulus package you could have for Santa Clara and the region."

Another councilman, Kevin Moore, cited the benefits of the move to local city-owned land. "We own a lot of land in that area," he said. "I guarantee that land will go up in value with a football stadium nearby." A 49ers-commissioned report in 2007 claimed that a new stadium would produce roughly US$42.5 million per year in 'new direct, indirect and induced economic annual activity' in Santa Clara.

"They've worked very hard to get to the point where we are today," said Lisa Lang, the 49ers vice president of communication.

Santa Clara mayor Patricia Mahan said the deal was, "a milestone in the sense that it represents that the team and the city have completed negotiations at least on a conceptual framework for an agreement to go forward."

A public meeting will be held before details are finalised, but Mahan does not expect any objections, saying that the only question Santa Clara residents have is when the 49ers will be arriving.