Kezar Stadium

Lore & Background

The stadium was built in 1925 after a $100,000 gift from the estate of Mary Kezar and an additional $200,000 from the city. Dedication ceremonies featured a two-mile footrace between Ville Ritola and Paavo Nurmi. The Raiders played at Kezar for their first four home games in 1960, then at Candlestick Park during the remainder of their first two seasons, before Frank Youell Field was built as a temporary facility in Oakland. The 49ers lost the 1970 NFC title game to the Dallas Cowboys 17–10 on January 3, 1971, the final NFL game at Kezar. The stadium was demolished and rebuilt in 1989 with a much smaller seating capacity of 10,000.

Reader's Guide

Kezar Stadium is located in the southeastern corner of Golden Gate Park. It underwent a $3.2-million renovation from September 2014 to March 2015, which included a new Mondo running track surface and installation of 1,000 historic Candlestick Park seats. In December 2016, 4,000 additional historic Candlestick seats were installed, paid for by the San Francisco Deltas.

Did You Know?

• The stadium hosted the USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in 1925, a little over a month after its dedication.
• In 1928, a high school championship game between San Francisco Polytechnic and Lowell drew more than 50,000 spectators, still the record for a high school football game in northern California.
• Defensive end Jim Marshall of the Minnesota Vikings had his famous 'wrong way run' at Kezar in 1964 against the 49ers on October 25.
• Several scenes from the 1971 film Dirty Harry were filmed at and above the stadium, with the antagonist living under the grandstand.