San Francisco 49ers
The team was founded in 1946 as a charter member of the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) and joined the NFL in 1949 when the leagues merged. The 49ers were the first major league professional sports franchise based in San Francisco. The name "49ers" comes from the prospectors who arrived in Northern California in the 1849 Gold Rush. The team is legally and corporately registered as the San Francisco Forty Niners. The team began play at Kezar Stadium in San Francisco before moving across town to Candlestick Park in 1970 and then to Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara in 2014.
49ers–Rams rivalry
The 49ers–Rams rivalry is a rivalry that began in 1950 and became one of the most intense in the National Football League in the 1970s as the two California based teams regularly competed for the NFL's NFC West Division title. The intensity of the rivalry is due to the fact that Northern California (where the 49ers are based) and Southern California (where the Rams are based) have long been competitors in the economic, cultural, and political arenas. During the Rams' twenty-one years in St. Louis, the rivalry did not have the geographical lore it once had, but games were still intense regardless of the standings. With the Rams’ return to Los Angeles in 2016, the rivalry became geographic once more. "Sports Illustrated" considers their rivalry the 8th best of all time in the National Football League.