Professional Football Researchers Association Forum

Why did SF play at Kesar instead of Candlestick before '71? Kesar is now a park, correct?

Candlestick Park didn't exist in 1946.
Kezar Stadium is indeed a park/track open to the public. There's a replica arch for an entrance .

Finally watching Dirty Harry for the first time on the big screen was cool, with Kezar being a character all its own.

I don't know for a fact, but possibly because they got better terms on the lease and concessions, and/or because of the greater seating capacity?? Those big gobs of TV money had yet to really start rolling in, so a team was much more dependent on ticket sales and concessions than today.

Here's a quote from former 49ers president Lou Spadia, who was happy when SF played their last game there in 1971.

"I was glad to get out of there," said Spadia. "People were not coming to Kezar simply because it was Kezar. In comparison, Candlestick Park was terrific." According to Spadia, the sight lines were horrible, with only 18,000 of Kezar's 59,000 seats between the goal lines.

The worst thing about Kezar was the old wooden benches. After watching a game there u had splinters... I kid you not.
As a kid I got to see a couple of games there... Niners vs Rams... I even got to see one of my favorite players, Deacon Jones. But my behind itched for days afterwards.

There's still a football field there.
The City high school championship (The Turkey Bowl) is still played there.
The Juggernauts got to play there once. We were skirmishing fodder for a semi-pro team. It is a beautiful field... better to play on than to watch a game (although I am sure the remodel of several years ago (1989) did away with the wooden benches).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kezar_Stadium

If I'm not mistaken, Candlestick was built as a baseball only stadium. There was a renovation at some point (mid 60s?) which allowed for a football configuration and the 49ers moved in soon after.

ChrisBabcock wrote:If I'm not mistaken, Candlestick was built as a baseball only stadium. There was a renovation at some point (mid 60s?) which allowed for a football configuration and the 49ers moved in soon after.

The configuration of the field didn't change, but they expanded the outfield seating and enclosed the field entirely. The Raiders played at Candlestick in '61. In this photo you can see the open side.

Here's a good overview of the 49ers years at Kezar with some interesting photos.

I like the sideline shot of the Packers in the mud during a 1960 game there.


https://opensfhistory.org/news/2019/09/ ... oser-look/