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Opened in 1960, the originally named "Candlestick Park" has been the home to 6 NFC
Championship games, two world series and 2 MLB all star games. Since the Giants have
departed for their beautiful new ballpark, Pacific Bell Park, the 49ers are now the sole
tenant of this stadium.
The building is located right on San Francisco bay on a piece of parkland called Candlestick
Point. Opened in 1960, the stadium seats just under 70,000 for football. Other than the park,
there is little around the stadium other than a multitude of surface lots ($20 to park), and
reasonably easy access off the adjacent freeway. It is located about 8 miles south of
downtown San Francisco.
Fans here arrive early to tailgate, and there is plenty to absorb in terms of the sights and
smells of 49ers red and gold out in the parking lot. Despite the teams recent swoon, ticket
demand remains high, and the Niners pretty much sell out all their games. Every seat in the
house is the same price - $51. There are no premium/club seats, but there are some luxury
suites hanging underneath the balcony.
Maneuvering your way around the stadium is a chore - concourses are super narrow,
despite the fact that we were told that they had recently been widened (where???). There
are escalators at each corner to ferry people to the upper concourse. From the mezzanine
level or the upper level, one can enjoy breathtaking views of the city skyline, the bay, or
the mountains depending which side of the stadium you are looking out from.
Once in your seats, you realize how many locations have hideous sightlines: the baseball
configuration remains intact so if you sit along the right field seats or on the visitor
bleacher sides, you are far from the action and in some cases have a partial obstruction. At
one end zone is a mammoth one color dot matrix board and accompanying jumbotron.
Concessions
Probably the one bright spot here is the variety of food... one is told to come hungry and if
you're not tailgating, there is plenty to choose from including chinese, mexican, vegetarian,
and the most noticable confectionary was the garlic fries... the heavy and enticing smell of
garlic was everywhere. Unfortunately, we didn't eat anything there for two reasons - first
the lines were endlessly long, and second, we sampled the local fare with some of the fans
in the parking lot who graciously invited us to join their tailgate party and gave us a warm
San Francisco welcome. NOCAL people beat SOCAL people anytime in terms of warmth and
friendliness!
Banners/retired numbers
One of the biggest disappointments of this building was the lack of any of this teams' rich
history on display. Ron, consider this - 5 Super Bowl titles... greats such as Montana,
Brodie, Clark, and soon to depart, Rice. Yet no banners or names on display to enshrine
these teams and these players. No problem, we thought, there must be a display in the
concourse, or a team museum, something, anything! So we looked and looked, but came up
empty. It's like nobody cares.
Our summary ---
We really have so little to say about this place. The stadium is drab and ordinary, the team is
mired in mediocrity, and when the best thing we have to report about is the views of the
city and the french fries, you know that is a pretty sad statement. But you know what? This
is still SAN FRANCISCO, one of America's greatest world class cities! And you know what
else? Our day is not over yet... we're heading over to the BART train and catching the ride
to Oakland.... Sunday night ESPN game of the week... where else would you rather be!
Scoring:
Architecture: 3
Food and team store 6
Scoreboard and electronics 2
Ushers 6
Fan support 6
Location and neighborhood 4
Banners and history 0
In game entertainment 4
Concourses/fan comfort 3
Bonus: Tailgate scene 2, Garlic fries 1
Total 37
Championship games, two world series and 2 MLB all star games. Since the Giants have
departed for their beautiful new ballpark, Pacific Bell Park, the 49ers are now the sole
tenant of this stadium.
The building is located right on San Francisco bay on a piece of parkland called Candlestick
Point. Opened in 1960, the stadium seats just under 70,000 for football. Other than the park,
there is little around the stadium other than a multitude of surface lots ($20 to park), and
reasonably easy access off the adjacent freeway. It is located about 8 miles south of
downtown San Francisco.
Fans here arrive early to tailgate, and there is plenty to absorb in terms of the sights and
smells of 49ers red and gold out in the parking lot. Despite the teams recent swoon, ticket
demand remains high, and the Niners pretty much sell out all their games. Every seat in the
house is the same price - $51. There are no premium/club seats, but there are some luxury
suites hanging underneath the balcony.
Maneuvering your way around the stadium is a chore - concourses are super narrow,
despite the fact that we were told that they had recently been widened (where???). There
are escalators at each corner to ferry people to the upper concourse. From the mezzanine
level or the upper level, one can enjoy breathtaking views of the city skyline, the bay, or
the mountains depending which side of the stadium you are looking out from.
Once in your seats, you realize how many locations have hideous sightlines: the baseball
configuration remains intact so if you sit along the right field seats or on the visitor
bleacher sides, you are far from the action and in some cases have a partial obstruction. At
one end zone is a mammoth one color dot matrix board and accompanying jumbotron.
Concessions
Probably the one bright spot here is the variety of food... one is told to come hungry and if
you're not tailgating, there is plenty to choose from including chinese, mexican, vegetarian,
and the most noticable confectionary was the garlic fries... the heavy and enticing smell of
garlic was everywhere. Unfortunately, we didn't eat anything there for two reasons - first
the lines were endlessly long, and second, we sampled the local fare with some of the fans
in the parking lot who graciously invited us to join their tailgate party and gave us a warm
San Francisco welcome. NOCAL people beat SOCAL people anytime in terms of warmth and
friendliness!
Banners/retired numbers
One of the biggest disappointments of this building was the lack of any of this teams' rich
history on display. Ron, consider this - 5 Super Bowl titles... greats such as Montana,
Brodie, Clark, and soon to depart, Rice. Yet no banners or names on display to enshrine
these teams and these players. No problem, we thought, there must be a display in the
concourse, or a team museum, something, anything! So we looked and looked, but came up
empty. It's like nobody cares.
Our summary ---
We really have so little to say about this place. The stadium is drab and ordinary, the team is
mired in mediocrity, and when the best thing we have to report about is the views of the
city and the french fries, you know that is a pretty sad statement. But you know what? This
is still SAN FRANCISCO, one of America's greatest world class cities! And you know what
else? Our day is not over yet... we're heading over to the BART train and catching the ride
to Oakland.... Sunday night ESPN game of the week... where else would you rather be!
Scoring:
Architecture: 3
Food and team store 6
Scoreboard and electronics 2
Ushers 6
Fan support 6
Location and neighborhood 4
Banners and history 0
In game entertainment 4
Concourses/fan comfort 3
Bonus: Tailgate scene 2, Garlic fries 1
Total 37
| Monster Park |
#61
San
Francisco
Stadium,
San
Francisco,
California
December
10, 2000
New
Orleans
Saints at
San
Francisco
49ers
(formerly
named
3Com Park)
San
Francisco
Stadium,
San
Francisco,
California
December
10, 2000
New
Orleans
Saints at
San
Francisco
49ers
(formerly
named
3Com Park)
