“Levi’s Stadium, steps away from the 49ers’ practice facility, is about 45 miles south of downtown San Francisco - the longest distance any team in the league has to the city that bears its name. The 49ers had played in San Francisco since their establishment in 1946, including the past 43 years at Candlestick Park, as the team won all five of its Super Bowl titles.”
If you went 45 miles south of Philadelphia, you’d be in Newark, Delaware. 45 miles south of San Diego and you’d be in Rosarita, Mexico. I understand owners want to get the best deal possible, but 45 miles away a bit much.
I like the Silicon Valley 49ers, kind of like the New England Patriots. The Cardinals are the Arizona Cardinals, not the Phoenix Cardinals, so it doesn’t matter what city in AZ they are located in.
The thing is that everything around San Francisco is so non-descript that everyone just says they are in the “San Francisco Area”. Santa Clara is just a big suburb and I don’t think many people outside the area actually know what it is. Furthermore, the new stadium is actually closer to San Jose, which is a bigger city than San Francisco. However, I do not think they want to call themselves the “San Jose 49ers”.
The worst bastardization of a name is the Los Angeles Angels of Aneheim. As I recall, they were required to keep Anenhim in their name for the sweetheart stadium deal, so they twisted themselves into this mouthful. They will always be the California Angels to me, or at worst, Anaheim. But LA? Ha.