49ers Move Game From Candlestick to Stanford

Sunday’s National Football League game between the San Francisco 49ers and New England Patriots will be played at Stanford Stadium in nearby Palo Alto, while preparation continues to ready Candlestick Park for the resumption of the World Series next Tuesday.

“Stanford and 49er officials met earlier today and arrived at that decision,” David Brown of the Stanford sports information office said Thursday.

A spokeswoman in the 49ers’ ticket office at Candlestick Park confirmed the change.

The decision to use Stanford was made after team officials toured Candlestick Park on Thursday morning, two days after the devastating Bay Area earthquake, and rejected that arena as the venue for the game.

Brown said that a limited number of $25 tickets went on sale at Stanford on Thursday, with proceeds going to the Bay Area earthquake relief fund.

Stanford Stadium has a capacity of 86,000, compared to Candlestick Park’s 65,701 seats.

Brown said that the game will be televised on NBC as scheduled.

At least one 49er player was happy with the decision.

“I’ve never played on it, but I’ve practiced on it and it’s a real fast field,” wide receiver Jerry Rice said. “As long as we stay home it’s fine with me.”

It will be only the second home game of the season for the 49ers, who are 5-0 on the road and lost their only home game, 13-12, to the Rams.

Engineers inspected Stanford Stadium, located about 35 miles south of San Francisco, and found no structural damage.

“We’re pleased with how well it rode it out,” athletic director Andy Geiger said.

The 49ers had Tuesday off, but Coach George Seifert said the building at their training headquarters in Santa Clara “rocked and rolled” during the 6.9 earthquake.

There were hairline cracks in the building’s stucco, and a large picture and 10 game balls on display in the main entrance fell to the floor.