San Francisco is a long-standing symbol of sporting excellence, reflected by the overwhelming support from citizens living in the city by the bay. The city has an affiliation with several major teams from different sports, the most popular two being the San Francisco 49ers football team and the San Francisco Giants baseball team; but, which team is worthy of the title of San Francisco’s favorite team?
Now let’s assume, for all intents and purposes, the city of San Francisco must choose one over the other – even though both teams are supported completely by the citizens of the city.
Both of these teams have been in San Francisco for many years. The Giants franchise moved to San Francisco from New York in 1958. The 49ers franchise began in San Francisco in 1946.
The Giants franchise got their name originally from the giant skyscrapers of the New York City skyline, still a very fitting name for the team. The 49ers franchise was named after the gold-mining prospectors who flocked to San Francisco during the 1849 gold rush, hence the “49” in the team’s name.
These two teams even shared the same stadium, Candlestick Park, for nearly 30 years.
The question still remains: Which one is San Francisco’s favorite?
If you were to look at the popularity of the two sports on a national scale, football has been voted America’s most popular sport for 30 straight years, according to the Harris Poll, which is a distinguished surveyor of sports fans ages 18 and over.
Another advantage football has over baseball and other sports is the average attendance of their games.
Football’s average attendance per game is more than double that of baseball; on top of that the NFL has the highest attendance per game than any other professional sporting league in the world.
In all fairness, NFL stadiums’ capacities far exceed that of an MLB stadium. AT&T Park, the current home of the Giants, has a capacity of 41,503 while Levi’s Stadium, the new home of the 49ers, can hold a whopping 70,207 fans.
While baseball is considered America’s pastime, football has been seeing a huge boost in popularity recently worldwide. Depending on who you ask, football might actually be considered America’s new pastime.
Walking down the streets of San Francisco it seems you see far more red and gold than you do orange and black. The 49ers team is more deeply rooted into the lives and history of the city of San Francisco.
The admiration of their fans reaches far past the San Francisco city limits. All across the state of California, you’ll see people wearing the trademarked SF logo. Some may even say the 49ers are the most popular team in the entire state.
The team’s recent successes in the regular season, postseason and even in the draft preparing for the future suggests that this team will continue to be a big hit for many years to come.
