I bike by Levi's stadium every week and I've always thought it looked weird. Especially since there's no outside walls and instead you just see white steel beams which makes it look incomplete 🤨
My introduction to American culture was a poster of Jerry Rice jumping over the stadium with a line, “Rice be nimble, Rice be quick” I haven’t watched an NFL game in several years but remembered after the move how 49ers seemed to have more fans when they played the Rams in LA than when they played the Rams “at home” in Santa Clara. My heart goes out to the guy at the end. The real fans are priced out of home games.
It was kind of the same for Dallas when they first opened Jerry World. Only those with the big money could afford the mid-lower bowls, let alone the suites. The average diehard fan had to settle for the horrifically packed concourse tickets or the nosebleeds where half the field was obscured by the Jerrytron. A lot of friends told me it wasn’t even worth it and that they even left during games because they couldn’t even see the game! Unlike Levi’s, where they were able to figure out a way to not f*ck the taxpayers, Jerry Jones completely laid the bill on Arlington taxpayers which destroyed the housing market in Arlington and killed people on their property taxes.
@@RushFanatic87 that’s sort of sums how I feel. The stadium sucks for the average middle to low income fan but at least tax payers weren’t screwed as well like with some other stadiums
It’s gonna end up being the first abandoned billion dollar stadium. Just look at it, it looks way more like a stadium built in the 90s or early 2000s as opposed to the billion dollar stadiums built in the last 10 years. Ignoring the price tag I would say it looks like a decent venue for what it is if not for being in Santa Clara rather then San Francisco. With so many stadiums now being replaced after barely twenty years (a practice I’m opposed to personally) I guarantee this will be one of them.
God I hope so. I want the team back in the City with a nicer, better stadium that feels more authentic to the historic vibes of the Bay Area and the teams theme. They're gold miners of the old west and the stadium should reflect that in some way. That's why literally the only thing i like about Levi's is the name.
Candlestick’s biggest issue was access, IMO. It’s served by one freeway exit and a couple of bus lines. The 49ers have basically never had an easily accessible stadium. Kezar has virtually no parking and is served by a couple buses and a light rail line.
It’s also going to be difficult to plan any renovations to the stadium because it’s so close to San Jose International Airport. There’s already been numerous complaints from pilots that the stadium lights affect them when they are trying to land.
I worked at the box office for this stadium for about 2 years. The ticket issues were real. If you didn’t have a smart phone or weren’t computer savvy you’d have to print tix at the box office. Great people work in there. I do agree a corporate atmosphere is present, but can you blame them? They are only about 10 miles away from the priciest zip code in America!! (Palo Alto).
I get my tickets printed at the box office because I like having a stub as a keepsake. It is a shame that many box offices don't print. The only way to get them to print is to say you don't have a smartphone.
@@MazeDaGr8 used to be a stadium was nothing more than a place to watch a game. No frills. Now a stadium has to be more comfortable than people's homes.
@@pocobull This right here!! I've been seeing this a lot lately with these field-level bars and clubs (AT&T Stadium in Dallas and Allegiant Stadium in Vegas). Seems out of place for a NFL stadium
@@javianjohnson8746 Ya, it's something that has come to me recently as I've seen photos and videos of the classic older stadiums. I've been to Fenway Park, and although it's a dump now, you can see in it's day, it was just a place to go watch a ball game. There was nothing fancy about the seats, there weren't 5 star restaurants masquerading as concession stands, etc. If we could go back to that, a guy could actually afford to take his wife and kids to a game, and not need a second mortgage on the house. But then again, maybe that's the point.
I can still Imagine Levi’s at Candlestick point every time I drive by. It made perfect sense. Kept the team in the city, the stadium design actually made sense for CP, and it would give the city an excuse to make Vis valley, Bayview and Hunter’s Point more livable.
I always imagine the true purpose of those corner openings, one side showing the SF skyline and the other side showing the bay or a look into the stadium as you're driving up to it from 101.
And it would have been easy to share Oakland Coliseum with the Raiders for one year while they built it. Much easier than Seahawks, Vikings,and Bears having to play on College campuses.
Good video, Five. As someone who lives in Santa Clara County (and a short drive from Levi’s Stadium), I was always puzzled as to why they built their stadium down here, especially near Great America. The surrounding area is not designed to support massive public events. Great America was already pushing it as an amusement park, but Levi’s Stadium is even worse because Santa Clara isn’t built to support 70,000 people gathering in one location. State Route 237, which is the closest freeway to the stadium, is notoriously terrible for traffic because it only has 2 to 3 lanes per direction rather than the standard 4 lanes of most large freeways. Even if you enter from Interstate 101, the streets leading to the stadium are thin, seeing as it’s more of a suburban-like area. It also doesn’t make sense why they made it an outdoor stadium. Ask any local who’s walked around Great America for several hours, and they can tell you that the South Bay sun in September is fucking terrible. It just shows how lazy the York family was by not changing the design (which was originally built for SF) to account for Santa Clara’s climate.
No bay area traffic is worse than in the city itself. If you go to a sporting event in the city, you take public transit to get there. If not, it takes 5 times longer and cost 10 times as much.
In 2010, 60% of season ticket holders lived in the South Bay ( from Redwood City around to Hayward). Giants always had much higher SF county but 49ers not near as much. Outdoor stadium because turf sucks! Causes injuries to players and most people enjoy being outdoors in California. Agree so strange decisions results in very non-optimal stadium but South Bay always made sense and outdoor is must
As a Santa Clara native it's always been Niner town and the land surrounding Levi's used to be a landfill and the amusement park great America which shares it's parking. I also worked at great America in the early 90's My childhood home is literally right behind the luxury suites. It's still weird that the Niners play in Santa Clara
Many 49er fans are from the south bay. I drove up to Candlestick many times from San Jose. Don't forget that the 49ers had their training facility in Santa Clara since 2003, so they only played the games in the city. Many players lived in the South Bay instead of the city during that time. So the move also made since from that stand point.
It looks like an very old staduim that was renovated throughout the years. Especially the way it looks from the outside. I never understood why they just didnt build the new stadium on the same site where candle stick park used to be, and just play at a college stadium for 2 or 3 years like the vikings did when their new staduim was built on the site of where the old one used to be.
I'm not sure there's a viable college stadium in the area besides Cal-Berkeley and I'm sure it's too small to work. Of course, that didn't stop the Chargers...
It's very difficult to build anything in SF, and the Niners got fed up with all the demands from the city in order to get permission to build. So they built in Santa Clara.
San Francisco wanted the new stadium to be a part of a regional redevelopment plan, including (desperately needed) housing. The problem was that they wanted the Niners to also contribute to the cost of redevelopment of Candlestick, and that was a nonstarter for ownership. Instead, Hunter's Point was suggested as an alternative, given that the Navy was no longer using the docks there. Unfortunately, the area was heavily polluted, and any environmental impact review of the project would have told the state that the area would need to be cleaned up (to the tune of billions of dollars) before any redevelopment could occur. Given that those were the only two options that the city of San Francisco could offer the Niners in a timely fashion, the Niners balked and instead went to Santa Clara.
Рік тому+18
You should take a look at La Bombonera, Boca Juniors' stadium in Buenos Aires. That stadium has been 3/4 complete since its inception, but is a really iconic venue for south american football
At first I thought you were going to talk about "La Bombonera" from Argentina. But this was waaay more informative. Thanks for all the stadium videos FP5. They are always interesting. I didn't know about this at all.
thing is La Bombonera has a soul. There is the skybox side, but the greediest argentinean fan has the guts of a working man when it comes to cheering. Maradona had skyboxes there. It can be the design of Levi's, but it's a contemporary of Candlestick (actually older)
@@otaviofrnazario la bombonera is an outdated, poorly designed stadium with awful view and that is on the brink of collapsing. It is time for a demolition before something tragic happens.
@@danielalejandrofernandez5907 the upper south seats were closed out due to infrastructure damage, although many Boca Juniors fans argued that the stadium was ok.
@@otaviofrnazario Before the "Skybox", they had a plain wall in La Bombonera. There was just no space, as the stadium is on an urban area with buildings all around. upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/99/La_Bombonera_en_construcci%C3%B3n.jpg
Levi's Stadium always looked weird to be in the Google Images shots where you can see the entirety of the stadium at different points of the day. I never thought about how one side receives all of the intense sunlight and heat while the other side houses rich people in air conditioned luxury suites
Soldier Field has the same layout, but they did a better job of it as far as seating goes. The upper deck hangs over the lower decks on the general admission side. Club levels hang over each other abs the 100 level and finally the suites lean forward a little if you look up at them from below instead of just going straight up. Only difference is it looks like a UFO landed on the stadium. I think Atlanta did the same thing with the Hawks arena. I like it because that last row in the upper deck isn't as high this way.
@@Bemfactor98 as big of a Bears fan I use to be, I just couldn't with them anymore. The owners are supremely incompetent and charge damn near the most per game in the league. They need to sell the team. I can't support that while they laugh all the way to the back. Renovated Soldier Field was designed by a guy that did only office buildings and he's not done a stadium since. The service levels there are a mess and it has 2 small freight elevators in the whole place.
"pelted by the Santa Clara sun" lol so true. I schlepped from my over priced San Francisco neighborhood for the Niners-Commanders game and spent the first half shirtless. It was on Christmas Eve fr tho excellent video. The social commentary aspect was really accurate
My dad helped with the construction of the suites for a little while. He said he liked the job but he wasn't (and still isn't) a big fan of the stadium. Gone are the Candlestick days sadly 😞
That last clip is kinda accurate. There's more techies and people that got tickets just to go the game that aren't fans. Just how Chase Center is rn. Most real fans can't get in because of the higher price tickets
I am a colts fan from Indy.i have been to many stadiums across the country. I visited San fran last fall and went to the week 2 game against the Seahawks. The stadium itself isn't a bad one. Prices were insane across the board. Parking spaces are scarce and were only available for resale. Getting to the stadium, was among the most difficult I have ever seen. It was clear building a stadium was the only concern at the time. They put no effort or consideration into its own fan base or visitors. The gameday atmosphere was fun, and the 49ers had a really good day. No complaints about the fans.
Bingo! Ownership had that stadium built lickety split! So fast that at least 2 workers died. Ownership put no thought into the stadium, other than just get it built, & out of San Francisco.
I was recently at the game in Levi's against the Cardinals on the hottest stadium game of the year at 95 degrees. On the surface that doesn't sound too hot but when you're sitting on the East side of the stadium and you're constantly pelted by UNRELENTING sunlight it gets too much. By the end of the first half the entire east was vacant, nobody wanted to stay in their seats as it felt like it got hotter as the game went of. No mist stations, no water stations, really we were all left to roast. We came prepped for that game knowing the heat was coming and did everything possible to keep cool in our seats and it was still too much. You're absolutely right about the class warfare seating. The boxed areas and 'club' sections that were away from the elements and air-conditioned made us feel like we were too poor to even be there despite the blistering heat. I've been to 49ers games at Candlestick from the 2012-14' season and for what it's worth, Candlestick felt like an actual football stadium. It was old, but there was an energy in that stadium that came alive when the team was out there, not to mention we were at home, literally in SF. I don't get that feeling from Levi's at all. It feels corporate, it feels more like a place for the rich tech bros to come and hang, and less like a football stadium. It just sucks man. I was hopeful back then when news of a new stadium came about, but seeing firsthand what it really is makes going to a 49er game feel like an absolute chore, which you shouldn't feel at your favorite team's place. Hopefully down the line the owners own from this, but I doubt. The world isn't getting cooler, and the World Cup is coming during the summer, good luck to that lol.
Thanks for the geography lesson. I pictured Santa Clara not far from the city limits like such other outposts as Landover, MD; Arlington (or Irving in the past), TX; East Rutherford, NJ; and Foxboro, MA. But I see it's much farther away.
That last clip is so depressing. Ugh. Great video. I never knew any of this, so it's good to be filled in on the never-ending greed of the obscenely wealthy.
Lions fan here. It is so sad that ticket prices are so high, but that is everywhere. Ford Field isn't cheap, but it is in the heart of the city with tons to do around it with great restaurants. It is also a great place to watch a game. Very loud and the fans really go nuts. Looking forward to a great game later today!
This video contains a lot of misinformation. 1) At the time of construction between 40 and 50% of San Francisco 49ers season ticket holders lived in Santa Clara County. They didn’t leave their fans; they moved closer to them. The typical San Franciscan isn’t exactly into pro sports and the ones who are are transplants who cheer for other teams. 2) Hunter’s Point is toxic and the 49ers didn’t want to deal with potential lawsuits by building on the site. To this day, Hunter’s Point is still undeveloped for this very reason. It is not a good site for any construction. 3) The 49ers team HQ has been in Santa Clara since 1986. They had the opportunity to build a stadium right across the street from the team offices and practice facility and they took it. 4) The NFL felt this was the best site for the 49ers to build on. Mayor Patricia Mahan brought Roger Goodell to neighboring Great America theme park to see the site from above and he said it was “perfect.” 5) The stadium directly connects with Amtrak and VTA light rail, which connect to Caltrain and BART. The connectivity issues with San Francisco are more of a San Francisco problem; SF transit isn’t geared towards people leaving the city. 6) The complaints about the sun are ridiculous. It’s not that hot in Santa Clara. It gets cold and windy at night because it’s adjacent to the bay. This is a cool stadium come and check it out sometime .
These are interesting facts, and yes it is a cool stadium. But to say my video has misinformation in it is patently false. "Omissions" would be a better word. Also do you work for the 9ers?
@@FivePointsVids What he fails to tell you also is that this was a Poll that the York Family conducted. Like I trust anything these folks tell me, The York family scapegoated SF, Candlestick, the weather, because they were desperate to leave SF. I don't believe that all the fans live in the South Bay, people all the way from Santa Rosa to Sacramento are fans of the 9ers. That is the excuse that ownership made for leaving, but that is so....Ownership should change the name of the team from SF to San Jose. Since the stadium is located only 3 blocks from San Jose city limits. Btw, there is just one thing you mentioned that was wrong. SF to Levi's stadium is 48 miles, almost 50 miles away. You would wind up at Stanford University at 40 miles, from SF.
I absolutely feel that last guy looking around for the real fans. That’s how it’s gotten in New England at Gillette, with such high prices not just for tickets but parking and concessions, the hard core fans that create a true atmosphere have been squeezed to the margins. And if you’re lucky enough to get a ticket, you get shouts to sit down, even on a big 3rd down defensive stand.
People got to realize levi stadium was designed 15 years before it was originally supposed to be built-in the parking lot of candlestick, and candlestick was going to be the new parking lot. The big opening ends of Levi's was supposed to be where you can see San Francisco skyline And the Bay area. But since they moved from san francisco to santa clara, it looks different because they never did change the designs.
paying that much to fry in the sun is just cruel. it's the same with day games at Angel Stadium but at least you can walk around. maybe the niners should have mostly night games in the early season.
Stadiums like this I blame more on Jerry Jones than the luxury suite craze. The reason I say that is, even though AT&T Stadium was necessary, represents Texas well, and actually LOOKS likes its price tag, the consequences of that stadium are still felt today by the sheer fact that almost every single stadium since Jerry's World has been $1+ Billion, just 1 year prior Lucas Oil Stadium, a retractable roof stadium, still cost less than $1B at $720 million when it was built! I like to dream a world where knowing that stadium prices are outrageous and require tons of resources (which makes the whole green movement even more hypocritical since a lot of it doesn't make sense), the NFL is encouraged to renovate their stadiums more than build new ones, and to only build new ones if their old stadium just can't function anymore (IE Alameda County, Tropicana, Fed Ex), if the stadium still functions, they can renovate it instead to get the same effect. Just as an example, the Chargers and Rams, Qualcomm could've been renovated into a football only facility when the Padres left, not only would that have improved sight lines, but could've gotten SD a Super Bowl again, the Edward Jones Dome could've been converted into Edward Jones Stadium by tearing the roof off and renovating the stadium from there as they see fit (iirc, the reason Kroenke wanted to leave the Dome was cuz of "Fan Experience" a terrible reason full of lies). This leaves Los Angeles without a team, to where the Raiders could've moved to the Rose Bowl and build a ring of luxury suites and boxes around the stadium, allowing California to only need to build 3 new stadiums, 2 for colleges (San Diego State and UCLA), the last one for the 49ers. the 49ers could've then temporarily played at Alameda until Candlestick was demolished and a new football friendly facility could've been built there with improved avenues of transportation. The consequences of this would've been so much more positive for the NFL. Less team movement No Vegas familiar locations for all the teams only losing city is Oakland as that city is a lost cause less resources used better PR with the NFL less money spent by owners and cities which means more revenue for the NFL and more profit the only stadiums that would be built under this policy, would the 49ers, and Vikings, even the Giants and Jets would stay at the Meadowlands which would be renovated to look like Metlife today. Metrodome was a lost cause it needed to be replaced. Georgia Dome imo could've been renovated. This ALSO allows the NFL to assist in building stadiums to smaller markets like the Titans/Bills, Bills could then be encouraged to build a simple dome stadium given the decreasing function of Ralph Wilson. As for Washington? Lol
The rose bowl doesn’t want a professional sport team, and certainly not the raiders, who’s largest la fans base is in Compton and south central la, not Pasadena.
The Edward jones done was a sterile boring dump, but it would take about as much money to renovate it to a serviceable venue as it would to build a new stadium, so that wouldn’t make any sense.
I've attended 2 games at this stadium. One in 2015 (Regular season vs. Packers) and another just recently this past year (Wild Card Game vs Seattle). Overall I don't understand why people hate Levi. I understand it has its problems but it was an okay place to see a game. Food may be overpriced but there's a lot to choose from. They have an awesome museum underneath that all fans should visit, plus a decent team store. Atmosphere was electric at the WC game. 2015 it was mid but we really sucked that year and got killed by a then Super Bowl contending Packers. Overall its not the worst place to watch a game. It's definitely not SoFi or Allegiant but at least it ain't FedEx Field.
I mean it’s good but the problem is location. It’s right next to a theme park. And the parking situation there is always a hassle. The stadium itself on a hot day sucks.
I really wish the 49ers would change their name. San Francisco just doesn't make any sense. They are nearly an hour from San Francisco. Not exactly like 40 minutes or something, but still it doesn't make any sense. The Santa Clara 49ers would be more appropriate but Santa Clara in itself isn't actually that populated. I think the population was around 125,000 I don't recall, and my hometown of Santa Rosa an hour North of San Francisco has over 178,000 population. However San Jose which is actually a bigger and more populated city than San Francisco with a population a little under 1 million is right by Santa Clara so actually I don't think you'll be bad if the 49ers were called the San Jose 49ers because that's a really big and recognizable City and Santa Clara is right by it.
Trust me the NFL, & the Yorks don't want to change the name of the 49ers. The San Francisco 49ers are a very historic franchise & was one of the 1st teams to be let into the league when it began. And of course, while San Jose has their suburban sprawl, San Francisco is the more famous city. The NFL doesn't want to strip that SF away, But I agree with you, they should change the name.
It almost looks like Philips Arena in Atlanta when they used to have half the arena as luxury suites and the other regular. It has since changed but this reminds me of that.
Luckily, that Phillips Arena mistake was corrected when they remodeled in 15/16. Ford Field in Detroit, though, has a very similar setup with the suite wall. It was always a silly look.
The vast majority of those attending 49er games at Candlestick were NOT from the city of San Francisco! If anything, the Niners are now CLOSER to their largest fan base in the south Bay! And why isn't there the same criticism of other stadiums... the Cowboys don't play in Dallas, the Jets and the Giants don't play in New York and the Cardinals don't play in Phoenix!
I would like to know what this means, when you quote, "it was clear the stadium was too old." Does that mean, rich people want better digs, to display how special they are? Am glad I got to go to Rams games in the 1960s at the L.A. Coliseum, where everyone, rich & poor, sat on wooden bench seats, eating hot dogs and smoking cigars.
I can relate.. I went to many a game at the Oakland Coliseum back in the mid-90s, still had that blue-collar feel that's all but been erased. Speaking of the Rams, they thought that dome in St Louis was too old and wanted a new stadium...it was a 23 yr old building that just got renovated 5 years before they left to go back to LA. It's all about the money.
First time there it was 92 not a cloud in the sky. The sun over head is also being blasted by the luxury seats. Most people left half time simply bc it was way too damn hot. Funny story. I bought three tickets $80 a person, and we simply count take it so we decide to leave at the half. On our way out the ushers were hassling a woman and her child who found shade and were simply cooling off. While they were busy with her we slipped through into a shaded seats and finished watching the game, three rows from the field and it made the day all worth it .
The Soldier Field renovation has a similar aesthetic. The east side of the stadium is a wall of luxury suites while the west side of the stadium is an oversized bank of seating with terrible access and bad concessions. And in the middle of winter when weather is the coldest, the east side suites are bathed in sunlight while the plebe seats are shrouded in shade.
I also think this analysis is somewhat misleading. I think a lot of lower income families in the Bay live in places like Milpitas (which is actually very close to the new stadium) or in Oakland (which doesn't have a team anymore, and is admittedly far from the stadium). I would be very interested to see how many truly lower-income people there are in SF itself that also would be willing to pay to watch a football game in a stadium if it were closer to them or otherwise more convenient to get there.
In addition to the 49ers, Levi's has also hosted international soccer matches (including matches for the upcoming 2026 World Cup) & a select number of SJ Earthquakes matches. In fact the very first event at Levi's was a SJ Earthquakes game back in 2014. As a soccer venue it isn't that great mainly because of the same issue that plagues the turf with the 49ers also applies to any soccer match that takes place. Another major issue for Levis when it comes to soccer is that there are a couple of other stadiums nearby such as PayPal Park in San Jose & Stanford Stadium in Palo Alto that offer a better view of the pitch & have better facilities even though both are smaller. As with 49ers games, attending a soccer match at Levi's is quite expensive for the average fan with many exhibition matches involving European clubs like Barcelona often having the cheapest seat priced at $250 or higher. The only reason why Levi's has hosted these international soccer matches & been a regular stop for many European clubs on their preseason tours of the US is because of the stadium's size & nothing else.
Watching football in a soccer stadium is way more fun just because of intimate it is. SoFi stadium atmosphere is great due to how they designed it but it also cost almost as three times more than SoFi stadium. They had to make in enclosed so it can be used for concerts and that was the only way for the city to help with funding it. Levi stadium was build on budget and in hopes of returning back to the Bay
Most Niner fans come from the South Bay.... Where the stadium is located now... 3 million folks in the South Bay.... 700k in SF... Getting to the City sucks balls, no matter what part of the Bay you live in, so having it in the South Bay is a better for all fans. However, the design is super-duper stupid - agreed!
I had to recheck the date on this video. This should have been made 5 to 7 years ago. It sounds a lot like what people used to say. There is a lot of bad takes. First, niners don’t play a lot of home games in September because of the heat. Second, the grass hasn’t been an issue since like 2016. Third, not all niner fans live in San Francisco, their media market is huge so most fans travel to the game anyways.
Geography wise, moving to Santa Clara was smart because it borders the most populated city in the bay (San Jose) and SF gets really cold compared to Santa Clara
Ownership is exactly what happened. When the deBartolo family owned the team, everything was first-class, fan-friendly. Unfortunately, by the time it was handed to Eddie, the team had been hemorrhaging money and Eddie looked to gambling revenue (*well* before a divided Supreme Court legalized it nationwide) as the cure for his woes. In the end, to avoid having the team seized, he gave it to his sister, Denise deBartolo York. And with that, Ownership now resided with the York family, and the rest is history.
Eddie D's dad bought the 49ers for him for his 30th birthday present back in 1977. Proceeded to ruin the team at first by hiring Joe Thomas as GM, who in turn fired Monte Clark, cut Jim Plunkett, traded a butt load of draft picks for a washed OJ Simpson, traded away Delvin Williams after a 1200 yard season, which resulted in 5-9 and 2-14 seasons. This, after a promising 8-6 record in 76, thought they folded in the second half that year. Not until he hired Walsh in 79 and just signed the checks did the Niners become a dynasty. Lots of frustratingly bad years, hence the term the 49er FAITHFUL. @@michaeltamares7974
Actually, the fan base of the 49ers is all over NorCal, but within the Bay Area itself, more around San Jose and the rest of the South Bay, as an analysis of 49er season ticket holder zip codes showed. There's no such thing as "good access"; if you've got buildable land adjacent to a freeway, itself quite expensive, then the freeway itself is often jammed up, with the gameday crowd not helping things. Also, at the time, the Raiders were still in Oakland, and even if the issue were being broached these days, with them gone to Las Vegas, the intractable Davis family would still litigate any East Bay placement of a new 49ers stadium. It didn't help that the 49ers and the prominent politicians in the area like Senator Dianne Feinstein were feuding. As for feeling sorry for those that "roast" in the South Bay in September and what is the de facto "summer" in the Bay Area, October, stop it. Many venues likewise "cook" in the late summer and early autumn, including even more Northerly places like Soldier Field in Chicago. Yes, it's "hot", at least warmer than what most Bay Area denizens are accustomed to, but conversely, in November, December, and January, the place is delightful. I'm sure the architects looked at the possible designs, given the available plot, that'd take in either an enclosed facility or one with a huge cover, like SoFi stadium or even what was retrofitted to Miami's stadium (what is it called NOW?), and the COST, and likely the answer was: they can get a SUN TAN! As for all the "class warfare" discussion of Levi's Stadium versus the "Stick", you don't know what the hell you're talking about. If anything, KEZAR was the place where the military, then stationed there, and the working class "Joes" went, and the joint was basically an old open-air venue where 49er football was an EXCUSE to get drunk. The team, decent in its AAFC origins, had brief moments while at Kezar where it did well, but in those days, sad to say, the LA RAMS dominated the NFL West, later to be supplanted by the Green Bay Packers. Fights routinely broke out at Kezar, and the SFPD actually improvised a holding pen for the more unruly fans. Once the 49ers moved to Candlestick, once it was enclosed and given that Gawd-Awful artificial turf, they had a few good seasons with John Brodie in his final years, but again, usually, the team was awful. That would be rectified in the Joe Montana era as even casual football fans are aware of. But sellouts were rare; I recall seeing "crowds" where Candlestick was half full, at BEST, in the 1970s. Once the team started winning Super Bowls, that immediately changed, and so did the "tenor" of the "49er faithful", as the odors of beer, bratwursts, and burgers from the tailgating were replaced by "wine and brie cheese", by "Gawd and Sonny Jesus, I shit you not". More or less, a 49er game became the place to be for "anyone who was 'anybody' " in the Bay Area (the Raiders making good, by then, their threat to depart for Los Angeles). So, some FORTY years ago, the "working class" feel of the 49ers was already gone; especially with that long waiting list for season tickets! We only see once again some of the traditional "beer-swilling yahoos" in the upper deck because the same "Forty-Whiner" faithful hasn't necessarily passed on to a new generation. What many probably don't realize is that the siting and basic design of Candlestick was already in the works in the EARLY 1950s, but not for the baseball Giants, still in their heydey in "New Yawk". In those days, there was serious discussion of elevating the status of the Pacific Coast League to a major league, and the San Francisco Seals, where both Joe and Dominick DiMaggio played briefly before going back east, drew decent crowds at Seals Stadium, though it obviously was insufficient for MLB. The Candlestick site, being adjacent to the Bayshore Freeway, back when also quite a few freeways that were never built or stopped (and in the case of I-480, actually torn down), and also located near the Hunters Point Navy Yard, then a going thing, was considered ideal by the SF city fathers. It was the movement of the MLB teams, especially those that shared cities, to more westerly locales like Milwaukee and Kansas City, and the advent of commercial JET travel, making today's MLB schedules feasible, that doomed the notion of the PCL as a third major league, and also brought the Dodgers and Giants to California. The layout of the 'Stick was altered slightly from its original design to accommodate football; again, this was before the AFL was announced and taken seriously; there was foresight that Candlestick would someday house the 49ers, who ended up being the longest tenant by a few yeas (1971-2013, versus 1960-1999 for the Giants). I'm not sure that the improvisation of the complete enclosure of Candlestick, with the moveable football stands, was thought of as Candlestick was built in the late 1950s; the majority of NFL venues were making do in baseball parks, many even smaller than the new SF Giants home as it was in 1960.
I always thought $1.7 billion (in 2013 dollars) for a stadium with no roof and looking half finished inside and out was ridiculous. I dread those blazing hot seats in the sun. I guess we’re half the entertainment for the rich asses able to drop 6-figures for their naturally shaded luxury boxes.
I went to candlestick in 2007 and it was a decent but old stadium. Went to Levis in December lest season and all I remember from that game is how weird that stadium is.
“Geographically far from the fans that support the team” is a stupid point. The entire Bay Area except Oakland cheers for this team. Santa Clara is full of Niners fans
So is SF, Marin County, Santa Rosa, San Rafel, Dublin, Pleasanton, Brentwood, Sacramento, all cities in the north bay are loaded with 49er fans...Why do we gotta bow down to y'all when the team's name is the San Francisco 49ers??? Until little Jed names the team San Jose, you have nothing to say about where the fans are all located at.
@@hadlee189bow down? I live in South Bay We make the trip for every Giants and Warriors game. Before that we did for the Niners too. I make that trip every Tuesday in the Summer to go sailing. Stop being a bunch of Pre-Madonnas because you have to travel to see one team. If the stadium was still in San Francisco, I’d make the trip whenever to go see them. I know people who make that trip every day for their job. It’s not Jed’s fault either. It’s the City’s.
my family are season ticket holders for the 49ers. we live near the area of the stadium so its a bit more convenient for me and my dad to watch games but it always doesn’t feel right to me. it doesn’t help that my seats are on the east side as well making the only reason for us to watch games is if it was primetime and the only real shelter was in the luxury boxes and the team store
Bay Area greed hurt the fan experience All the Bay Area/Central Coast Raider fans gotta spend extra $ to go to a Raider game a state over and an expensive stadium Niner fans gotta go to Santa Clara and lose part of that "Niner" feel in the new stadium
Gentrification huh…I went to college in SF, lived there and rented an apartment. I couldn’t compete anymore. So what did I do? I moved. Bought a house in the suburbs. I’m a capitalist and believe the markets decide who lives where. I don’t hate SF for forcing me out, I hate SF for propping up thugs and low life’s that have NO business living in SF but remain there due to section 8, welfare, food stamps, extremely subsidized housing etc. End rant. Sorry, just hate that word.
@@Adrian-op5ni You know that there are actual communities in SF? People whose families have lived in the area for multiple generations and gave San Francisco its identity. Also the notion that there is a lot of subsidised housing anywhere in Bay Area is fucking insane, considering that San Francisco has the highest rent in the country
i live in oregon and am a 49ers fan i have been to the stadium more then once and have sat on both sides and tbh its not that bad i mean you are in cali its gonna be hot could they have made it with shade sure but its really not all that bad maybe its cause i come from oregon so depending on when i go its nice weather to be in for me
honestly i don't think moving to the south bay was that bad a move. having grown up there, i can tell you that the place is teeming with niners faithful. which is why i've come to believe that instead of representing the city of SF itself, the niners represent the entire SF Bay Area.
Fans dont seem to care tho, they still make the commute and horrible exiting in that stadium and theyre still in the top for league attendance, so clearly its not phasing them one bit
It's funny that your ad at the beginning showed someone biking, and it reminded me how I used to bike on the trail next to Levi's Stadium often growing up in the Bay Area.
Did anybody even remotely considering kezar stadium site for building another stadium there? I understand the almost complete lack of a parking lot was a huge issue, but on the 4 times I've been to the city of San Francisco and been at that site as well I counted 4 San Francisco municipal light rail lines that end there as I recall. Add the bus lines and flow in and out of that part of Candlestick park shouldn't be that bad. And if they did insist on this current site does anyone know other ways they could have made the traffic and the flow of people in and out better? How about it's own elevated light rail that takes you straight to BART stations especially the ones that have a very good amount of parking. Or leaves you off at the part of downtown San Jose with the pay parking garages unused on a Sunday and how about that line continue to two possible San Jose airport stations. Maybe put the light rail station between the stadium and Great America park.
From Soldier Field to the future home of the Chicago Bears in Arlington Heights is roughly 35 miles away. The thing is with the Bears, they were pretty much stuck at Soldier Field as there is no where to build a new stadium anywhere in the city. Also too, Soldier Field is owned by the Chicago Park District, the Bears just lease it out to play there. Not to mention the city is STILL owes money and be paying those renovations they did 20 years ago and Mayor Bettlejuice still wants the Bears to stay and make Soldier Field even more of a Frankenstein monster than it already is!!!! Now that that have all this land to build a new stadiums and it’s surroundings, it will be a better fan experience (hopefully). As for the 49ers, the move was just plain dumb and corporate greed.
It's sad seeing that guy at the end. Us real fans don't even go to Levi's. I'd rather go to an opposing teams stadium for 1/5th the price. There are always crowds of real fans. I went to the Jacksonville game last week and it was mostly niner fans
I didn’t know any “have nots” could attend NFL games anywhere. My impression was that the separation at that stadium was between the rich and the extremely rich.
Me: BABE WAKE UP! New fivepoints vid is up! Her: I don’t what the big deal is, but we’re four months behind on the mortgage, and the bank is on their way to foreclose on the house.
I’m a lifelong niner fan, and I absolutely hate Levi’s stadium. For the reasons this video mentions, and because aesthetically it lacks any kind of personality and just feels sterile. I loved candlestick. It was old and rundown and lacked any modern amenities. But it was quirky and had personality. If you ask me I wish we were still there. It will always be niners’ home in my mind, and I’m sad it’s gone
And the NFL does not care, as the stadium is getting a second Super Bowl in 2026. Guess the allure of being in a big market like the Bay Area is too much to ignore.
As a former season ticket holder, I can’t agree more with this travesty of a stadium. It really does make you feel like you are in the plebeian seats baking in the sun looking at that soul less air conditioned glass tower instead of fans going nuts across the way like it was at the stick.
Most 9er fans at the stick were from the south bay and not the city. So technically it's a shorter trip than it ever was. I almost never met a city local at the games in candlestick.
Definitely over critical take. I had season tickets to the stick. The memories of legends was great but the stadium was old and overstayed. Traffic going home was terrible. By the way the entire Bay Area has die hard 49er fans. It’s not like only real fans are from SF. Maybe it’s not the best stadium but it will serve the team well and yeah the sun is hot. So what
@@Zackfaria14 lol I’m pretty sure you’d rather be drenched in sweat than drenched in sewage. At least in Levi’s you can flush the toilet without flooding the teams locker rooms with poop.
Lol their stadium was a literal shit bowl without a functioning sewage system, I’m sure they’d much rather play at Levi’s, but they would never be able to save face with moving it with their arch rivals.
I live in the Bay Area and despise Levi's Stadium. And for those right-wingers who love to rip Governor Newsom, he actually does deserve a lot of blame for the Niners moving to Santa Clara. He was SF mayor at the time, and the team owners said one of the reasons they moved was because Newsom kept adding so many conditions to allowing the Niners to build in SF, such as installing showers for people who wanted to ride their bikes to the new stadium, that they finally got fed up with him and gave up on SF.
Hey, we San Franciscans voted 3 times for the 49ers to build a stadium in San Francisco. The reason this fell trough was because 1) John York had already struck a deal with Santa Clara's Mayor, & City Council. And 2) because Newson didn't want the taxpayers of SF to pay to build a stadium for a Billionaire, like Santa Clara did. I'm glad he covered for his residents by not putting the burden to pay for Levi's on the taxpayers of SF. Santa Clara regrets that every single day!
As you mentioned before, in the late 1990's, early 2000's there was a transfer of ownership. From the best owner the 49ers ever had, to Ed DeBartolo's Sister. Then Denise York allowed her son to take over day to day operations of the team. Because as Denise York has said before, "she doesn't like football." The root of the problem is that the York family didn't have any idea about the dynamics between the south bay, & the north bay of the bay area. The south bay is suburban, & SF is urban as you can get. A lot of fans loved the vibe of the city after the games. The Yorks thought that they could just plug in a stadium in anywhere, & the same thing would occur that did at Candlestick. Wrong, & a lot of North Bay fans are pissed with the York ownership, for not realizing how different the 2 regions are.
It wasn't shocking that they moved to Santa Clara. The team HQ was relocated from redwood city to Santa Clara in 1988. Levi stadium was built right across the street.
Yeah, I guess the Niners move to Santa Clara only made sense from that standpoint. The team has trained and has been headquartered in Santa Clara for a number of years. Having them play in Santa Clara meant that they would be in Santa Clara full-time as opposed to driving to SF on gamedays. I think all of the Niners players live in the South Bay and have a lot of their events in the South Bay, even though it's cool that some Niner players come up to SF to go to some Giants and Warrior games when they have free time. But still, even with all of that being said, it's still too bad the Niners don't play in SF anymore. I didn't know they trained in Redwood City in the past, that's a good factoid. Thanks for mentioning that!
I lived next to Levi’s a bit. And nothing about the area would prepare you to seeing a football stadium. It’s like an ordinary business park. And the stadium from the outside doesn’t scream “NFL”. You would more than likely assume it was a soccer field or something. Which is such a bummer because they had the Giants to look to for inspiration. They built a new park but it feels so integrated in the city. While it has the amenities of a new park, it feels like a classic ballpark that’s always been there. Candlestick sucked and everybody knew. Was always cold. And took hours to get out after a game. But it at least felt like a loved park
The design is similar to Ford Field. Putting the suites (mostly) on one side avoids having to put the upper level seats on top far away like next door Comerica Park did. So in Ford Field's case, even the upper level seats are good. I like that sightlines were given least priority to those in the suites which have plenty of other amenities besides watching the game. But it seems like the issue of adding suites without making the upper level farther up has been addressed by newer stadiums like Lucas Oil and Sofi. When copying Ford Field, it seems like the designers of Levi missed what makes Ford Field not feel so rigidly divided by class. The upper level side doesn't face directly into the sun (the stadium is indoors) and you only have to travel far to get there if you dont live in/near Detroit, the stadium is right downtown and near the two light rail systems, plus countless bus routes. So the two biggest problems resulting from Levi aren't really a thing at the stadium it tried to emulate. Ford Field also has club and luxery seats on both sides. The reason for the stacked suites on one side is because it was built into an old warehouse building.
Aside from the greed, I love the look of this stadium. Reminds me of Florida Field or Beaver Stadium. I hate weird looking rounded Euro stadiums (like Soldier Field) or stadiums like AT&T which is a Jumbotron with seats.
We have a "5 points" intersection in Philly. It features a Wendys, Dunkin, KFC, Crown Chicken, Rite Aid, A bank, a dollar store, and is annoying to drive through.
49ers Stadium is the worst stadium in the NFL and in Santa Clara. My Question is why are we still call San Francisco 49ers? Why are we not call Santa Clara 49ers? The Stadium looks like unfinished apartment complex. Parking awful food awful and open seating sweaty all the time everything about this Stadium is awful.
I bike by Levi's stadium every week and I've always thought it looked weird. Especially since there's no outside walls and instead you just see white steel beams which makes it look incomplete 🤨
Looks like an erector set.
the steel beam thing can be done nicely. look at progressive field in cleveland
That's how most college stadiums still look.
@@eggsngritstn thats the keyword here (college) the 49ers are not a college team
It's like The Centre Pompidou, but different.
My introduction to American culture was a poster of Jerry Rice jumping over the stadium with a line, “Rice be nimble, Rice be quick”
I haven’t watched an NFL game in several years but remembered after the move how 49ers seemed to have more fans when they played the Rams in LA than when they played the Rams “at home” in Santa Clara. My heart goes out to the guy at the end. The real fans are priced out of home games.
It was kind of the same for Dallas when they first opened Jerry World. Only those with the big money could afford the mid-lower bowls, let alone the suites. The average diehard fan had to settle for the horrifically packed concourse tickets or the nosebleeds where half the field was obscured by the Jerrytron. A lot of friends told me it wasn’t even worth it and that they even left during games because they couldn’t even see the game! Unlike Levi’s, where they were able to figure out a way to not f*ck the taxpayers, Jerry Jones completely laid the bill on Arlington taxpayers which destroyed the housing market in Arlington and killed people on their property taxes.
@@RushFanatic87 that’s sort of sums how I feel. The stadium sucks for the average middle to low income fan but at least tax payers weren’t screwed as well like with some other stadiums
@@RushFanatic87 Well true Cowboys fans would have decent jobs, right? A long with the constant winning and super bowl appearances? lol
@@chris_hisss nah, they’ll never win another Lombardi with Jerry hanging around lmao
the "real" fans lmao. I love tha
It’s gonna end up being the first abandoned billion dollar stadium. Just look at it, it looks way more like a stadium built in the 90s or early 2000s as opposed to the billion dollar stadiums built in the last 10 years.
Ignoring the price tag I would say it looks like a decent venue for what it is if not for being in Santa Clara rather then San Francisco. With so many stadiums now being replaced after barely twenty years (a practice I’m opposed to personally) I guarantee this will be one of them.
God I hope so. I want the team back in the City with a nicer, better stadium that feels more authentic to the historic vibes of the Bay Area and the teams theme. They're gold miners of the old west and the stadium should reflect that in some way. That's why literally the only thing i like about Levi's is the name.
@@auxiliis8366 Should taxpayers have to subsidize that "nicer, better" stadium?
@@djm5687 hell no
the area of Candlestick is still empty, right?
They should just built a new one there
@@otaviofrnazario Should have done so from the get go but I guess the city of SF wasn't gonna fork over the expenses to upgrade the area, so... 🤷🏾♂️
Candlestick’s biggest issue was access, IMO. It’s served by one freeway exit and a couple of bus lines. The 49ers have basically never had an easily accessible stadium. Kezar has virtually no parking and is served by a couple buses and a light rail line.
Have you been to a game in Santa Clara? There is absolutely no access to this stadium. It's pretty much the same as candlestick was back in the day.
Well if Candlestick was hard to get to, then Levi's is even worse.
@@SylveonMujigaeOfficial Neither are good. But VTA from Mountain View (I come from San Mateo County) is the move.
@@coilbiohazard The traffic flow is awful. Whoever set that up has obviously never been to any sporting event or concert in their life.
Access to Levi's is a freaking nightmare. They put it in the stupidest place they possibly could.
“Greed” thank you for saying what needed to be said about what is easily the worst modern stadium in the NFL
Idk MetLife could give them a run for their money
or fedex field@@JyDaOne1
I should get on Ford Field and send the footage to 5 point vids
It’s also going to be difficult to plan any renovations to the stadium because it’s so close to San Jose International Airport. There’s already been numerous complaints from pilots that the stadium lights affect them when they are trying to land.
Strange, PayPal Park is immediately across the street from SJ Airport.
What about Citi field? Right next to LaGuardia
@@SantaDog81 it’s parallel to the runway, not down wind of it like Levi’s is
@@SantaDog81 Paypal Park isn’t in the direct landing or takeoff pattern and is much smaller and not as bright
For a few years, the Oakland Raiders were closer to San Francisco than the San Francisco 49ers were
I worked at the box office for this stadium for about 2 years. The ticket issues were real. If you didn’t have a smart phone or weren’t computer savvy you’d have to print tix at the box office. Great people work in there. I do agree a corporate atmosphere is present, but can you blame them? They are only about 10 miles away from the priciest zip code in America!! (Palo Alto).
I get my tickets printed at the box office because I like having a stub as a keepsake. It is a shame that many box offices don't print. The only way to get them to print is to say you don't have a smartphone.
The priciest zip code in America is actually Atherton which is near Palo Alto but yes Palo Alto is pricey and your also correct about everything else
Isn't SF about the same distance away from Palo Alto?
@@nikilragav No. SF to Palo Alto is about 3 times farther at around 33 miles.
I think the more accurate question is: Why do those luxury boxes have 3/4's of a stadium surrounding them?
Because nowadays especially for the last decade, sporting events are for the rich now
@@MazeDaGr8 used to be a stadium was nothing more than a place to watch a game. No frills. Now a stadium has to be more comfortable than people's homes.
@@pocobull This right here!! I've been seeing this a lot lately with these field-level bars and clubs (AT&T Stadium in Dallas and Allegiant Stadium in Vegas). Seems out of place for a NFL stadium
@@javianjohnson8746 Ya, it's something that has come to me recently as I've seen photos and videos of the classic older stadiums. I've been to Fenway Park, and although it's a dump now, you can see in it's day, it was just a place to go watch a ball game. There was nothing fancy about the seats, there weren't 5 star restaurants masquerading as concession stands, etc. If we could go back to that, a guy could actually afford to take his wife and kids to a game, and not need a second mortgage on the house. But then again, maybe that's the point.
@@javianjohnson8746 US Bank has those too
I can still Imagine Levi’s at Candlestick point every time I drive by. It made perfect sense. Kept the team in the city, the stadium design actually made sense for CP, and it would give the city an excuse to make Vis valley, Bayview and Hunter’s Point more livable.
Access at that location was just awful though. One freeway exit and almost no public transit.
@@EthanRKassel You’re not wrong there.
I always imagine the true purpose of those corner openings, one side showing the SF skyline and the other side showing the bay or a look into the stadium as you're driving up to it from 101.
And it would have been easy to share Oakland Coliseum with the Raiders for one year while they built it. Much easier than Seahawks, Vikings,and Bears having to play on College campuses.
@michaellee4276 The Coliseum is such a dump, though
Seems perfect to represent SF
Half super rich people in comfort half peasants trying to get by
Good video, Five. As someone who lives in Santa Clara County (and a short drive from Levi’s Stadium), I was always puzzled as to why they built their stadium down here, especially near Great America.
The surrounding area is not designed to support massive public events. Great America was already pushing it as an amusement park, but Levi’s Stadium is even worse because Santa Clara isn’t built to support 70,000 people gathering in one location.
State Route 237, which is the closest freeway to the stadium, is notoriously terrible for traffic because it only has 2 to 3 lanes per direction rather than the standard 4 lanes of most large freeways. Even if you enter from Interstate 101, the streets leading to the stadium are thin, seeing as it’s more of a suburban-like area.
It also doesn’t make sense why they made it an outdoor stadium. Ask any local who’s walked around Great America for several hours, and they can tell you that the South Bay sun in September is fucking terrible. It just shows how lazy the York family was by not changing the design (which was originally built for SF) to account for Santa Clara’s climate.
No bay area traffic is worse than in the city itself. If you go to a sporting event in the city, you take public transit to get there. If not, it takes 5 times longer and cost 10 times as much.
In 2010, 60% of season ticket holders lived in the South Bay ( from Redwood City around to Hayward). Giants always had much higher SF county but 49ers not near as much. Outdoor stadium because turf sucks! Causes injuries to players and most people enjoy being outdoors in California. Agree so strange decisions results in very non-optimal stadium but South Bay always made sense and outdoor is must
As a Santa Clara native it's always been Niner town and the land surrounding Levi's used to be a landfill and the amusement park great America which shares it's parking. I also worked at great America in the early 90's My childhood home is literally right behind the luxury suites. It's still weird that the Niners play in Santa Clara
Many 49er fans are from the south bay. I drove up to Candlestick many times from San Jose. Don't forget that the 49ers had their training facility in Santa Clara since 2003, so they only played the games in the city. Many players lived in the South Bay instead of the city during that time. So the move also made since from that stand point.
It looks like an very old staduim that was renovated throughout the years. Especially the way it looks from the outside. I never understood why they just didnt build the new stadium on the same site where candle stick park used to be, and just play at a college stadium for 2 or 3 years like the vikings did when their new staduim was built on the site of where the old one used to be.
I'm pretty sure dangerous material was found in the soil at the old site which has prevented it from being developed all this time
I'm not sure there's a viable college stadium in the area besides Cal-Berkeley and I'm sure it's too small to work. Of course, that didn't stop the Chargers...
It's very difficult to build anything in SF, and the Niners got fed up with all the demands from the city in order to get permission to build. So they built in Santa Clara.
Stanford is the other option. It's even hosted a super bowl before.
San Francisco wanted the new stadium to be a part of a regional redevelopment plan, including (desperately needed) housing. The problem was that they wanted the Niners to also contribute to the cost of redevelopment of Candlestick, and that was a nonstarter for ownership.
Instead, Hunter's Point was suggested as an alternative, given that the Navy was no longer using the docks there. Unfortunately, the area was heavily polluted, and any environmental impact review of the project would have told the state that the area would need to be cleaned up (to the tune of billions of dollars) before any redevelopment could occur.
Given that those were the only two options that the city of San Francisco could offer the Niners in a timely fashion, the Niners balked and instead went to Santa Clara.
You should take a look at La Bombonera, Boca Juniors' stadium in Buenos Aires. That stadium has been 3/4 complete since its inception, but is a really iconic venue for south american football
At first I thought you were going to talk about "La Bombonera" from Argentina. But this was waaay more informative. Thanks for all the stadium videos FP5. They are always interesting. I didn't know about this at all.
thing is La Bombonera has a soul. There is the skybox side, but the greediest argentinean fan has the guts of a working man when it comes to cheering. Maradona had skyboxes there.
It can be the design of Levi's, but it's a contemporary of Candlestick (actually older)
@@otaviofrnazario la bombonera is an outdated, poorly designed stadium with awful view and that is on the brink of collapsing. It is time for a demolition before something tragic happens.
@@danielalejandrofernandez5907 the upper south seats were closed out due to infrastructure damage, although many Boca Juniors fans argued that the stadium was ok.
@@otaviofrnazario Before the "Skybox", they had a plain wall in La Bombonera. There was just no space, as the stadium is on an urban area with buildings all around. upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/99/La_Bombonera_en_construcci%C3%B3n.jpg
Levi's Stadium always looked weird to be in the Google Images shots where you can see the entirety of the stadium at different points of the day. I never thought about how one side receives all of the intense sunlight and heat while the other side houses rich people in air conditioned luxury suites
Soldier Field has the same layout, but they did a better job of it as far as seating goes. The upper deck hangs over the lower decks on the general admission side. Club levels hang over each other abs the 100 level and finally the suites lean forward a little if you look up at them from below instead of just going straight up. Only difference is it looks like a UFO landed on the stadium. I think Atlanta did the same thing with the Hawks arena. I like it because that last row in the upper deck isn't as high this way.
And the Bears are moving to a north Chicago suburb. Ridiculous.
@@Bemfactor98 as big of a Bears fan I use to be, I just couldn't with them anymore. The owners are supremely incompetent and charge damn near the most per game in the league. They need to sell the team. I can't support that while they laugh all the way to the back. Renovated Soldier Field was designed by a guy that did only office buildings and he's not done a stadium since. The service levels there are a mess and it has 2 small freight elevators in the whole place.
"pelted by the Santa Clara sun" lol so true. I schlepped from my over priced San Francisco neighborhood for the Niners-Commanders game and spent the first half shirtless. It was on Christmas Eve
fr tho excellent video. The social commentary aspect was really accurate
fascinating. I have wondered about Levi's Stadium for years, but didn't realize that the entire big block was actually luxury suites.
My dad helped with the construction of the suites for a little while. He said he liked the job but he wasn't (and still isn't) a big fan of the stadium. Gone are the Candlestick days sadly 😞
I think it says a lot when even the ppl Building The Stadium say "yea this isn't a good idea"
That last clip is kinda accurate. There's more techies and people that got tickets just to go the game that aren't fans. Just how Chase Center is rn. Most real fans can't get in because of the higher price tickets
It’s called having money 😂
I am a colts fan from Indy.i have been to many stadiums across the country.
I visited San fran last fall and went to the week 2 game against the Seahawks. The stadium itself isn't a bad one. Prices were insane across the board. Parking spaces are scarce and were only available for resale. Getting to the stadium, was among the most difficult I have ever seen.
It was clear building a stadium was the only concern at the time. They put no effort or consideration into its own fan base or visitors.
The gameday atmosphere was fun, and the 49ers had a really good day. No complaints about the fans.
Bingo! Ownership had that stadium built lickety split! So fast that at least 2 workers died. Ownership put no thought into the stadium, other than just get it built, & out of San Francisco.
I was recently at the game in Levi's against the Cardinals on the hottest stadium game of the year at 95 degrees. On the surface that doesn't sound too hot but when you're sitting on the East side of the stadium and you're constantly pelted by UNRELENTING sunlight it gets too much. By the end of the first half the entire east was vacant, nobody wanted to stay in their seats as it felt like it got hotter as the game went of. No mist stations, no water stations, really we were all left to roast.
We came prepped for that game knowing the heat was coming and did everything possible to keep cool in our seats and it was still too much. You're absolutely right about the class warfare seating. The boxed areas and 'club' sections that were away from the elements and air-conditioned made us feel like we were too poor to even be there despite the blistering heat.
I've been to 49ers games at Candlestick from the 2012-14' season and for what it's worth, Candlestick felt like an actual football stadium. It was old, but there was an energy in that stadium that came alive when the team was out there, not to mention we were at home, literally in SF. I don't get that feeling from Levi's at all. It feels corporate, it feels more like a place for the rich tech bros to come and hang, and less like a football stadium.
It just sucks man. I was hopeful back then when news of a new stadium came about, but seeing firsthand what it really is makes going to a 49er game feel like an absolute chore, which you shouldn't feel at your favorite team's place. Hopefully down the line the owners own from this, but I doubt. The world isn't getting cooler, and the World Cup is coming during the summer, good luck to that lol.
Thanks for the geography lesson. I pictured Santa Clara not far from the city limits like such other outposts as Landover, MD; Arlington (or Irving in the past), TX; East Rutherford, NJ; and Foxboro, MA. But I see it's much farther away.
As a born and raised native in the Bay, it’s not a bad drive once you’ve gotten used to how close and far everywhere is.
@@AYoungAdultOnUA-cam yea from the city isn't too bad, but if you're not driving... It's easily half a day of just travel lol
@@mharp6166 eh, San Francisco to San Jose is only 48 minutes without traffic so you have to be extraordinarily lucky with it
@@AYoungAdultOnUA-cam To be fair, there’s always traffic lol
It’s in its own metropolitan area. With the rise in tech the owners wanted to get in on the Silicon Valley money.
That last clip is so depressing. Ugh.
Great video. I never knew any of this, so it's good to be filled in on the never-ending greed of the obscenely wealthy.
Lions fan here. It is so sad that ticket prices are so high, but that is everywhere. Ford Field isn't cheap, but it is in the heart of the city with tons to do around it with great restaurants. It is also a great place to watch a game. Very loud and the fans really go nuts. Looking forward to a great game later today!
This video contains a lot of misinformation.
1) At the time of construction between 40 and 50% of San Francisco 49ers season ticket holders lived in Santa Clara County. They didn’t leave their fans; they moved closer to them. The typical San Franciscan isn’t exactly into pro sports and the ones who are are transplants who cheer for other teams.
2) Hunter’s Point is toxic and the 49ers didn’t want to deal with potential lawsuits by building on the site. To this day, Hunter’s Point is still undeveloped for this very reason. It is not a good site for any construction.
3) The 49ers team HQ has been in Santa Clara since 1986. They had the opportunity to build a stadium right across the street from the team offices and practice facility and they took it.
4) The NFL felt this was the best site for the 49ers to build on. Mayor Patricia Mahan brought Roger Goodell to neighboring Great America theme park to see the site from above and he said it was “perfect.”
5) The stadium directly connects with Amtrak and VTA light rail, which connect to Caltrain and BART. The connectivity issues with San Francisco are more of a San Francisco problem; SF transit isn’t geared towards people leaving the city.
6) The complaints about the sun are ridiculous. It’s not that hot in Santa Clara. It gets cold and windy at night because it’s adjacent to the bay.
This is a cool stadium come and check it out sometime .
These are interesting facts, and yes it is a cool stadium. But to say my video has misinformation in it is patently false. "Omissions" would be a better word. Also do you work for the 9ers?
@@FivePointsVids What he fails to tell you also is that this was a Poll that the York Family conducted. Like I trust anything these folks tell me, The York family scapegoated SF, Candlestick, the weather, because they were desperate to leave SF. I don't believe that all the fans live in the South Bay, people all the way from Santa Rosa to Sacramento are fans of the 9ers. That is the excuse that ownership made for leaving, but that is so....Ownership should change the name of the team from SF to San Jose. Since the stadium is located only 3 blocks from San Jose city limits. Btw, there is just one thing you mentioned that was wrong. SF to Levi's stadium is 48 miles, almost 50 miles away. You would wind up at Stanford University at 40 miles, from SF.
I absolutely feel that last guy looking around for the real fans. That’s how it’s gotten in New England at Gillette, with such high prices not just for tickets but parking and concessions, the hard core fans that create a true atmosphere have been squeezed to the margins. And if you’re lucky enough to get a ticket, you get shouts to sit down, even on a big 3rd down defensive stand.
People got to realize levi stadium was designed 15 years before it was originally supposed to be built-in the parking lot of candlestick, and candlestick was going to be the new parking lot. The big opening ends of Levi's was supposed to be where you can see San Francisco skyline And the Bay area. But since they moved from san francisco to santa clara, it looks different because they never did change the designs.
paying that much to fry in the sun is just cruel. it's the same with day games at Angel Stadium but at least you can walk around. maybe the niners should have mostly night games in the early season.
Stadiums like this I blame more on Jerry Jones than the luxury suite craze. The reason I say that is, even though AT&T Stadium was necessary, represents Texas well, and actually LOOKS likes its price tag, the consequences of that stadium are still felt today by the sheer fact that almost every single stadium since Jerry's World has been $1+ Billion, just 1 year prior Lucas Oil Stadium, a retractable roof stadium, still cost less than $1B at $720 million when it was built!
I like to dream a world where knowing that stadium prices are outrageous and require tons of resources (which makes the whole green movement even more hypocritical since a lot of it doesn't make sense), the NFL is encouraged to renovate their stadiums more than build new ones, and to only build new ones if their old stadium just can't function anymore (IE Alameda County, Tropicana, Fed Ex), if the stadium still functions, they can renovate it instead to get the same effect. Just as an example, the Chargers and Rams, Qualcomm could've been renovated into a football only facility when the Padres left, not only would that have improved sight lines, but could've gotten SD a Super Bowl again, the Edward Jones Dome could've been converted into Edward Jones Stadium by tearing the roof off and renovating the stadium from there as they see fit (iirc, the reason Kroenke wanted to leave the Dome was cuz of "Fan Experience" a terrible reason full of lies). This leaves Los Angeles without a team, to where the Raiders could've moved to the Rose Bowl and build a ring of luxury suites and boxes around the stadium, allowing California to only need to build 3 new stadiums, 2 for colleges (San Diego State and UCLA), the last one for the 49ers.
the 49ers could've then temporarily played at Alameda until Candlestick was demolished and a new football friendly facility could've been built there with improved avenues of transportation. The consequences of this would've been so much more positive for the NFL.
Less team movement
No Vegas
familiar locations for all the teams
only losing city is Oakland as that city is a lost cause
less resources used
better PR with the NFL
less money spent by owners and cities which means more revenue for the NFL and more profit
the only stadiums that would be built under this policy, would the 49ers, and Vikings, even the Giants and Jets would stay at the Meadowlands which would be renovated to look like Metlife today. Metrodome was a lost cause it needed to be replaced. Georgia Dome imo could've been renovated.
This ALSO allows the NFL to assist in building stadiums to smaller markets like the Titans/Bills, Bills could then be encouraged to build a simple dome stadium given the decreasing function of Ralph Wilson.
As for Washington? Lol
The rose bowl doesn’t want a professional sport team, and certainly not the raiders, who’s largest la fans base is in Compton and south central la, not Pasadena.
The Edward jones done was a sterile boring dump, but it would take about as much money to renovate it to a serviceable venue as it would to build a new stadium, so that wouldn’t make any sense.
The city of Pasadena owns the rose bowl, and they don’t like changing it much. They would never agree to that.
So Vegas having a team is considered losing now?
Titian’s are getting a brand new done stadium in 2026
I've attended 2 games at this stadium. One in 2015 (Regular season vs. Packers) and another just recently this past year (Wild Card Game vs Seattle). Overall I don't understand why people hate Levi. I understand it has its problems but it was an okay place to see a game. Food may be overpriced but there's a lot to choose from. They have an awesome museum underneath that all fans should visit, plus a decent team store. Atmosphere was electric at the WC game. 2015 it was mid but we really sucked that year and got killed by a then Super Bowl contending Packers. Overall its not the worst place to watch a game. It's definitely not SoFi or Allegiant but at least it ain't FedEx Field.
I mean it’s good but the problem is location. It’s right next to a theme park. And the parking situation there is always a hassle. The stadium itself on a hot day sucks.
Lucky for the Niners, Great America is gonna die after the decade ends. Although, I will miss the park since that’s one where can actually go to
@@AYoungAdultOnUA-cam Man, I remember Great America with the Paramount branding. Those were the good ole days.
I really wish the 49ers would change their name. San Francisco just doesn't make any sense. They are nearly an hour from San Francisco. Not exactly like 40 minutes or something, but still it doesn't make any sense. The Santa Clara 49ers would be more appropriate but Santa Clara in itself isn't actually that populated. I think the population was around 125,000 I don't recall, and my hometown of Santa Rosa an hour North of San Francisco has over 178,000 population. However San Jose which is actually a bigger and more populated city than San Francisco with a population a little under 1 million is right by Santa Clara so actually I don't think you'll be bad if the 49ers were called the San Jose 49ers because that's a really big and recognizable City and Santa Clara is right by it.
Trust me the NFL, & the Yorks don't want to change the name of the 49ers. The San Francisco 49ers are a very historic franchise & was one of the 1st teams to be let into the league when it began. And of course, while San Jose has their suburban sprawl, San Francisco is the more famous city. The NFL doesn't want to strip that SF away, But I agree with you, they should change the name.
It almost looks like Philips Arena in Atlanta when they used to have half the arena as luxury suites and the other regular. It has since changed but this reminds me of that.
Facts I’m from Atlanta
Luckily, that Phillips Arena mistake was corrected when they remodeled in 15/16. Ford Field in Detroit, though, has a very similar setup with the suite wall. It was always a silly look.
@SkrapDiggy well that suite wall at Ford Field was built into an old existing building. Not sure if they could renovate it.
@@david24680dw (Serious question) On a scale of 1 to 10 how would you rate the Mercedes Benz Stadium, and did the Georgia Dome need replacing?
@@hmdwgf when they first built Mercedes I’d say a 10 but there’s newer better stadiums. Yea the GA dome looked outdated
The vast majority of those attending 49er games at Candlestick were NOT from the city of San Francisco! If anything, the Niners are now CLOSER to their largest fan base in the south Bay! And why isn't there the same criticism of other stadiums... the Cowboys don't play in Dallas, the Jets and the Giants don't play in New York and the Cardinals don't play in Phoenix!
If that is so, name the team for the largest fan base...San Jose. And stop pimping my city's name out because San Jose isn't as famous.
I went in 2018, the sun was pretty bad but $2 bottles of water were nice
I would like to know what this means, when you quote, "it was clear the stadium was too old." Does that mean, rich people want better digs, to display how special they are? Am glad I got to go to Rams games in the 1960s at the L.A. Coliseum, where everyone, rich & poor, sat on wooden bench seats, eating hot dogs and smoking cigars.
I can relate.. I went to many a game at the Oakland Coliseum back in the mid-90s, still had that blue-collar feel that's all but been erased. Speaking of the Rams, they thought that dome in St Louis was too old and wanted a new stadium...it was a 23 yr old building that just got renovated 5 years before they left to go back to LA. It's all about the money.
First time there it was 92 not a cloud in the sky. The sun over head is also being blasted by the luxury seats. Most people left half time simply bc it was way too damn hot. Funny story. I bought three tickets $80 a person, and we simply count take it so we decide to leave at the half. On our way out the ushers were hassling a woman and her child who found shade and were simply cooling off. While they were busy with her we slipped through into a shaded seats and finished watching the game, three rows from the field and it made the day all worth it .
The Soldier Field renovation has a similar aesthetic. The east side of the stadium is a wall of luxury suites while the west side of the stadium is an oversized bank of seating with terrible access and bad concessions. And in the middle of winter when weather is the coldest, the east side suites are bathed in sunlight while the plebe seats are shrouded in shade.
2.1 billion and stadium looks like is still under construction with all those post scuffling
I also think this analysis is somewhat misleading. I think a lot of lower income families in the Bay live in places like Milpitas (which is actually very close to the new stadium) or in Oakland (which doesn't have a team anymore, and is admittedly far from the stadium). I would be very interested to see how many truly lower-income people there are in SF itself that also would be willing to pay to watch a football game in a stadium if it were closer to them or otherwise more convenient to get there.
In addition to the 49ers, Levi's has also hosted international soccer matches (including matches for the upcoming 2026 World Cup) & a select number of SJ Earthquakes matches. In fact the very first event at Levi's was a SJ Earthquakes game back in 2014. As a soccer venue it isn't that great mainly because of the same issue that plagues the turf with the 49ers also applies to any soccer match that takes place. Another major issue for Levis when it comes to soccer is that there are a couple of other stadiums nearby such as PayPal Park in San Jose & Stanford Stadium in Palo Alto that offer a better view of the pitch & have better facilities even though both are smaller. As with 49ers games, attending a soccer match at Levi's is quite expensive for the average fan with many exhibition matches involving European clubs like Barcelona often having the cheapest seat priced at $250 or higher. The only reason why Levi's has hosted these international soccer matches & been a regular stop for many European clubs on their preseason tours of the US is because of the stadium's size & nothing else.
Wondo to Djalo
Watching football in a soccer stadium is way more fun just because of intimate it is. SoFi stadium atmosphere is great due to how they designed it but it also cost almost as three times more than SoFi stadium. They had to make in enclosed so it can be used for concerts and that was the only way for the city to help with funding it. Levi stadium was build on budget and in hopes of returning back to the Bay
One look and I thought "isn't this Levi's stadium?"
Most Niner fans come from the South Bay.... Where the stadium is located now... 3 million folks in the South Bay.... 700k in SF... Getting to the City sucks balls, no matter what part of the Bay you live in, so having it in the South Bay is a better for all fans. However, the design is super-duper stupid - agreed!
I think a lot of people were sad to see the team leave the city of SF. Even if you weren’t a 49ers fan.
Def
As it makes a car ride for me shorter, I didn’t mind the move to Santa Clara
I had to recheck the date on this video. This should have been made 5 to 7 years ago. It sounds a lot like what people used to say. There is a lot of bad takes. First, niners don’t play a lot of home games in September because of the heat. Second, the grass hasn’t been an issue since like 2016. Third, not all niner fans live in San Francisco, their media market is huge so most fans travel to the game anyways.
Geography wise, moving to Santa Clara was smart because it borders the most populated city in the bay (San Jose) and SF gets really cold compared to Santa Clara
Ownership is exactly what happened. When the deBartolo family owned the team, everything was first-class, fan-friendly. Unfortunately, by the time it was handed to Eddie, the team had been hemorrhaging money and Eddie looked to gambling revenue (*well* before a divided Supreme Court legalized it nationwide) as the cure for his woes.
In the end, to avoid having the team seized, he gave it to his sister, Denise deBartolo York. And with that, Ownership now resided with the York family, and the rest is history.
Was never handed to Eddie..Eddie was the sole owner when he bought the team.. Do your research
Eddie D's dad bought the 49ers for him for his 30th birthday present back in 1977. Proceeded to ruin the team at first by hiring Joe Thomas as GM, who in turn fired Monte Clark, cut Jim Plunkett, traded a butt load of draft picks for a washed OJ Simpson, traded away Delvin Williams after a 1200 yard season, which resulted in 5-9 and 2-14 seasons. This, after a promising 8-6 record in 76, thought they folded in the second half that year. Not until he hired Walsh in 79 and just signed the checks did the Niners become a dynasty. Lots of frustratingly bad years, hence the term the 49er FAITHFUL. @@michaeltamares7974
Levi's Stadium is representative of San Francisco, and California as a whole when it comes to financial bullshit.
~Signed, a California native.
Actually, the fan base of the 49ers is all over NorCal, but within the Bay Area itself, more around San Jose and the rest of the South Bay, as an analysis of 49er season ticket holder zip codes showed. There's no such thing as "good access"; if you've got buildable land adjacent to a freeway, itself quite expensive, then the freeway itself is often jammed up, with the gameday crowd not helping things. Also, at the time, the Raiders were still in Oakland, and even if the issue were being broached these days, with them gone to Las Vegas, the intractable Davis family would still litigate any East Bay placement of a new 49ers stadium. It didn't help that the 49ers and the prominent politicians in the area like Senator Dianne Feinstein were feuding.
As for feeling sorry for those that "roast" in the South Bay in September and what is the de facto "summer" in the Bay Area, October, stop it. Many venues likewise "cook" in the late summer and early autumn, including even more Northerly places like Soldier Field in Chicago. Yes, it's "hot", at least warmer than what most Bay Area denizens are accustomed to, but conversely, in November, December, and January, the place is delightful. I'm sure the architects looked at the possible designs, given the available plot, that'd take in either an enclosed facility or one with a huge cover, like SoFi stadium or even what was retrofitted to Miami's stadium (what is it called NOW?), and the COST, and likely the answer was: they can get a SUN TAN!
As for all the "class warfare" discussion of Levi's Stadium versus the "Stick", you don't know what the hell you're talking about. If anything, KEZAR was the place where the military, then stationed there, and the working class "Joes" went, and the joint was basically an old open-air venue where 49er football was an EXCUSE to get drunk. The team, decent in its AAFC origins, had brief moments while at Kezar where it did well, but in those days, sad to say, the LA RAMS dominated the NFL West, later to be supplanted by the Green Bay Packers. Fights routinely broke out at Kezar, and the SFPD actually improvised a holding pen for the more unruly fans. Once the 49ers moved to Candlestick, once it was enclosed and given that Gawd-Awful artificial turf, they had a few good seasons with John Brodie in his final years, but again, usually, the team was awful. That would be rectified in the Joe Montana era as even casual football fans are aware of. But sellouts were rare; I recall seeing "crowds" where Candlestick was half full, at BEST, in the 1970s. Once the team started winning Super Bowls, that immediately changed, and so did the "tenor" of the "49er faithful", as the odors of beer, bratwursts, and burgers from the tailgating were replaced by "wine and brie cheese", by "Gawd and Sonny Jesus, I shit you not". More or less, a 49er game became the place to be for "anyone who was 'anybody' " in the Bay Area (the Raiders making good, by then, their threat to depart for Los Angeles). So, some FORTY years ago, the "working class" feel of the 49ers was already gone; especially with that long waiting list for season tickets! We only see once again some of the traditional "beer-swilling yahoos" in the upper deck because the same "Forty-Whiner" faithful hasn't necessarily passed on to a new generation.
What many probably don't realize is that the siting and basic design of Candlestick was already in the works in the EARLY 1950s, but not for the baseball Giants, still in their heydey in "New Yawk". In those days, there was serious discussion of elevating the status of the Pacific Coast League to a major league, and the San Francisco Seals, where both Joe and Dominick DiMaggio played briefly before going back east, drew decent crowds at Seals Stadium, though it obviously was insufficient for MLB. The Candlestick site, being adjacent to the Bayshore Freeway, back when also quite a few freeways that were never built or stopped (and in the case of I-480, actually torn down), and also located near the Hunters Point Navy Yard, then a going thing, was considered ideal by the SF city fathers. It was the movement of the MLB teams, especially those that shared cities, to more westerly locales like Milwaukee and Kansas City, and the advent of commercial JET travel, making today's MLB schedules feasible, that doomed the notion of the PCL as a third major league, and also brought the Dodgers and Giants to California. The layout of the 'Stick was altered slightly from its original design to accommodate football; again, this was before the AFL was announced and taken seriously; there was foresight that Candlestick would someday house the 49ers, who ended up being the longest tenant by a few yeas (1971-2013, versus 1960-1999 for the Giants). I'm not sure that the improvisation of the complete enclosure of Candlestick, with the moveable football stands, was thought of as Candlestick was built in the late 1950s; the majority of NFL venues were making do in baseball parks, many even smaller than the new SF Giants home as it was in 1960.
I always thought $1.7 billion (in 2013 dollars) for a stadium with no roof and looking half finished inside and out was ridiculous.
I dread those blazing hot seats in the sun. I guess we’re half the entertainment for the rich asses able to drop 6-figures for their naturally shaded luxury boxes.
That would be like if the Seahawks moved to Tacoma and built a ugly stadium that nobody likes to replace CLink.
I went to candlestick in 2007 and it was a decent but old stadium. Went to Levis in December lest season and all I remember from that game is how weird that stadium is.
To be fair, the whole Bay Area not just SF itself which is actually a tiny part of the Bay support the 49ers.
“Geographically far from the fans that support the team” is a stupid point. The entire Bay Area except Oakland cheers for this team. Santa Clara is full of Niners fans
So is SF, Marin County, Santa Rosa, San Rafel, Dublin, Pleasanton, Brentwood, Sacramento, all cities in the north bay are loaded with 49er fans...Why do we gotta bow down to y'all when the team's name is the San Francisco 49ers??? Until little Jed names the team San Jose, you have nothing to say about where the fans are all located at.
@@hadlee189bow down? I live in South Bay We make the trip for every Giants and Warriors game. Before that we did for the Niners too. I make that trip every Tuesday in the Summer to go sailing. Stop being a bunch of Pre-Madonnas because you have to travel to see one team. If the stadium was still in San Francisco, I’d make the trip whenever to go see them. I know people who make that trip every day for their job. It’s not Jed’s fault either. It’s the City’s.
Thanks, 5 point vids. I've always wondered why Levi stadium isn't symmetrical
my family are season ticket holders for the 49ers. we live near the area of the stadium so its a bit more convenient for me and my dad to watch games but it always doesn’t feel right to me. it doesn’t help that my seats are on the east side as well making the only reason for us to watch games is if it was primetime and the only real shelter was in the luxury boxes and the team store
Bay Area greed hurt the fan experience
All the Bay Area/Central Coast Raider fans gotta spend extra $ to go to a Raider game a state over and an expensive stadium
Niner fans gotta go to Santa Clara and lose part of that "Niner" feel in the new stadium
A gentrified stadium for the team whose hometown is basically the poster child for gentrification. It's like poetry.
Gentrification huh…I went to college in SF, lived there and rented an apartment. I couldn’t compete anymore. So what did I do? I moved. Bought a house in the suburbs. I’m a capitalist and believe the markets decide who lives where. I don’t hate SF for forcing me out, I hate SF for propping up thugs and low life’s that have NO business living in SF but remain there due to section 8, welfare, food stamps, extremely subsidized housing etc. End rant. Sorry, just hate that word.
@@Adrian-op5ni You know that there are actual communities in SF? People whose families have lived in the area for multiple generations and gave San Francisco its identity. Also the notion that there is a lot of subsidised housing anywhere in Bay Area is fucking insane, considering that San Francisco has the highest rent in the country
@@justsamoo3480 Not sure what you’re point is. Anyway, let the market decide who lives in SF.
@@Adrian-op5ni”let the market decide who lives there” you’re part of the problem. Gentrification sucks period
The old Candlestick park was the most perfect location for a new stadium..
i live in oregon and am a 49ers fan i have been to the stadium more then once and have sat on both sides and tbh its not that bad i mean you are in cali its gonna be hot could they have made it with shade sure but its really not all that bad maybe its cause i come from oregon so depending on when i go its nice weather to be in for me
At least your team stayed, be thankful for that.
honestly i don't think moving to the south bay was that bad a move. having grown up there, i can tell you that the place is teeming with niners faithful. which is why i've come to believe that instead of representing the city of SF itself, the niners represent the entire SF Bay Area.
Fans dont seem to care tho, they still make the commute and horrible exiting in that stadium and theyre still in the top for league attendance, so clearly its not phasing them one bit
The implication that the majority of 49ers fans live in SF as opposed to the South Bay is inaccurate.
Levi looks like a college stadium that was built up to 70%, then the workers quit and never came back.
It's funny that your ad at the beginning showed someone biking, and it reminded me how I used to bike on the trail next to Levi's Stadium often growing up in the Bay Area.
Did anybody even remotely considering kezar stadium site for building another stadium there? I understand the almost complete lack of a parking lot was a huge issue, but on the 4 times I've been to the city of San Francisco and been at that site as well I counted 4 San Francisco municipal light rail lines that end there as I recall. Add the bus lines and flow in and out of that part of Candlestick park shouldn't be that bad. And if they did insist on this current site does anyone know other ways they could have made the traffic and the flow of people in and out better? How about it's own elevated light rail that takes you straight to BART stations especially the ones that have a very good amount of parking. Or leaves you off at the part of downtown San Jose with the pay parking garages unused on a Sunday and how about that line continue to two possible San Jose airport stations. Maybe put the light rail station between the stadium and Great America park.
From Soldier Field to the future home of the Chicago Bears in Arlington Heights is roughly 35 miles away. The thing is with the Bears, they were pretty much stuck at Soldier Field as there is no where to build a new stadium anywhere in the city.
Also too, Soldier Field is owned by the Chicago Park District, the Bears just lease it out to play there. Not to mention the city is STILL owes money and be paying those renovations they did 20 years ago and Mayor Bettlejuice still wants the Bears to stay and make Soldier Field even more of a Frankenstein monster than it already is!!!!
Now that that have all this land to build a new stadiums and it’s surroundings, it will be a better fan experience (hopefully).
As for the 49ers, the move was just plain dumb and corporate greed.
It's sad seeing that guy at the end. Us real fans don't even go to Levi's. I'd rather go to an opposing teams stadium for 1/5th the price. There are always crowds of real fans. I went to the Jacksonville game last week and it was mostly niner fans
I didn’t know any “have nots” could attend NFL games anywhere. My impression was that the separation at that stadium was between the rich and the extremely rich.
I went to a Niners game recently. And it was just a WEIRD stadium 🏟️ and, because of it, the entire afternoon pretty much sucked 🏈
Me: BABE WAKE UP! New fivepoints vid is up!
Her: I don’t what the big deal is, but we’re four months behind on the mortgage, and the bank is on their way to foreclose on the house.
I’m a lifelong niner fan, and I absolutely hate Levi’s stadium. For the reasons this video mentions, and because aesthetically it lacks any kind of personality and just feels sterile. I loved candlestick. It was old and rundown and lacked any modern amenities. But it was quirky and had personality. If you ask me I wish we were still there. It will always be niners’ home in my mind, and I’m sad it’s gone
And the NFL does not care, as the stadium is getting a second Super Bowl in 2026. Guess the allure of being in a big market like the Bay Area is too much to ignore.
As a former season ticket holder, I can’t agree more with this travesty of a stadium. It really does make you feel like you are in the plebeian seats baking in the sun looking at that soul less air conditioned glass tower instead of fans going nuts across the way like it was at the stick.
Most 9er fans at the stick were from the south bay and not the city. So technically it's a shorter trip than it ever was. I almost never met a city local at the games in candlestick.
I've only been to this stadium once, and frankly, I have no desire to back there again. 🙄
Definitely over critical take. I had season tickets to the stick. The memories of legends was great but the stadium was old and overstayed. Traffic going home was terrible. By the way the entire Bay Area has die hard 49er fans. It’s not like only real fans are from SF. Maybe it’s not the best stadium but it will serve the team well and yeah the sun is hot. So what
I’ve gone too the Oakland Colesium, Levi’s and Alegient and Levi’s was by far the wors experience
Lol you don’t get a sewage deluge at Levi’s
@@KanyeTheGayFish69 no but either way your leaving both stadiums wet. Whether that be sweat or sewage and at least you can avoid sewage
@@Zackfaria14 lol I’m pretty sure you’d rather be drenched in sweat than drenched in sewage. At least in Levi’s you can flush the toilet without flooding the teams locker rooms with poop.
Excellent video. Anytime someone asks me why I don’t go to niners games I can just send them this.
I dont get why they couldn't just knock down and rebuild candlestick park.
Levi stadium is an awful stadium in a ridiculous location.
“Candlestick was a working man’s stadium”.
Nailed it!
Now I know why the Raiders didn't want to share the stadium with the 49ers
Rent would be paid. Same way W. Johnson’s JETS & D. Spanos’ CHARGERS pay the Giants & Rams to play there.
Lol their stadium was a literal shit bowl without a functioning sewage system, I’m sure they’d much rather play at Levi’s, but they would never be able to save face with moving it with their arch rivals.
@@BlimpCityFeeder Al Davis had too much pride to pay the 49ers rent.
The raiders left because the 49ers kicked them out of California
I live in the Bay Area and despise Levi's Stadium. And for those right-wingers who love to rip Governor Newsom, he actually does deserve a lot of blame for the Niners moving to Santa Clara. He was SF mayor at the time, and the team owners said one of the reasons they moved was because Newsom kept adding so many conditions to allowing the Niners to build in SF, such as installing showers for people who wanted to ride their bikes to the new stadium, that they finally got fed up with him and gave up on SF.
Hey, we San Franciscans voted 3 times for the 49ers to build a stadium in San Francisco. The reason this fell trough was because 1) John York had already struck a deal with Santa Clara's Mayor, & City Council. And 2) because Newson didn't want the taxpayers of SF to pay to build a stadium for a Billionaire, like Santa Clara did. I'm glad he covered for his residents by not putting the burden to pay for Levi's on the taxpayers of SF. Santa Clara regrets that every single day!
You should take a look at La Bombonera stadium
I've had to add more of your videos to my Knowledge and Wisdom playlist, well done.
Another awesome video. Love this channel!!!!
As you mentioned before, in the late 1990's, early 2000's there was a transfer of ownership. From the best owner the 49ers ever had, to Ed DeBartolo's Sister. Then Denise York allowed her son to take over day to day operations of the team. Because as Denise York has said before, "she doesn't like football." The root of the problem is that the York family didn't have any idea about the dynamics between the south bay, & the north bay of the bay area. The south bay is suburban, & SF is urban as you can get. A lot of fans loved the vibe of the city after the games. The Yorks thought that they could just plug in a stadium in anywhere, & the same thing would occur that did at Candlestick. Wrong, & a lot of North Bay fans are pissed with the York ownership, for not realizing how different the 2 regions are.
I can also imagine that the rich park next to the stadium, while the commoners have to park across the street.
Actually it’s the opposite. Private parking is a mile from the stadium
@@callumcameron7983 .. Really? Wow! I'm guessing that the parking fee, even from a mile away, is something like 40 or 50 bucks!
It wasn't shocking that they moved to Santa Clara. The team HQ was relocated from redwood city to Santa Clara in 1988. Levi stadium was built right across the street.
Yeah, I guess the Niners move to Santa Clara only made sense from that standpoint. The team has trained and has been headquartered in Santa Clara for a number of years. Having them play in Santa Clara meant that they would be in Santa Clara full-time as opposed to driving to SF on gamedays. I think all of the Niners players live in the South Bay and have a lot of their events in the South Bay, even though it's cool that some Niner players come up to SF to go to some Giants and Warrior games when they have free time.
But still, even with all of that being said, it's still too bad the Niners don't play in SF anymore.
I didn't know they trained in Redwood City in the past, that's a good factoid. Thanks for mentioning that!
I live by the stadium and it’s a nice stadium. It isn’t bad and especially during fall time when the weather is perfect
I love these niche deep dives 🙌🏻
I lived next to Levi’s a bit. And nothing about the area would prepare you to seeing a football stadium. It’s like an ordinary business park. And the stadium from the outside doesn’t scream “NFL”. You would more than likely assume it was a soccer field or something. Which is such a bummer because they had the Giants to look to for inspiration. They built a new park but it feels so integrated in the city. While it has the amenities of a new park, it feels like a classic ballpark that’s always been there.
Candlestick sucked and everybody knew. Was always cold. And took hours to get out after a game. But it at least felt like a loved park
The design is similar to Ford Field. Putting the suites (mostly) on one side avoids having to put the upper level seats on top far away like next door Comerica Park did.
So in Ford Field's case, even the upper level seats are good. I like that sightlines were given least priority to those in the suites which have plenty of other amenities besides watching the game. But it seems like the issue of adding suites without making the upper level farther up has been addressed by newer stadiums like Lucas Oil and Sofi.
When copying Ford Field, it seems like the designers of Levi missed what makes Ford Field not feel so rigidly divided by class. The upper level side doesn't face directly into the sun (the stadium is indoors) and you only have to travel far to get there if you dont live in/near Detroit, the stadium is right downtown and near the two light rail systems, plus countless bus routes. So the two biggest problems resulting from Levi aren't really a thing at the stadium it tried to emulate.
Ford Field also has club and luxery seats on both sides. The reason for the stacked suites on one side is because it was built into an old warehouse building.
Aside from the greed, I love the look of this stadium. Reminds me of Florida Field or Beaver Stadium. I hate weird looking rounded Euro stadiums (like Soldier Field) or stadiums like AT&T which is a Jumbotron with seats.
Yeah as a die hard niner fan I actually really like Levi’s Stadium and the atmosphere of it.
Looks like a tinkertoy set got spilled next to a hotel.
We have a "5 points" intersection in Philly. It features a Wendys, Dunkin, KFC, Crown Chicken, Rite Aid, A bank, a dollar store, and is annoying to drive through.
The stadium is too corporate? Welcome to the modern NFL, where billionaires get the working class to shovel them billions more
lol you sound jealous
I miss The Stick so much. So much charm and personality. Levis is sterile as hell.
49ers Stadium is the worst stadium in the NFL and in Santa Clara. My Question is why are we still call San Francisco 49ers? Why are we not call Santa Clara 49ers? The Stadium looks like unfinished apartment complex. Parking awful food awful and open seating sweaty all the time everything about this Stadium is awful.
Dallas cowboys don't actually play in Dallas either