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.
Bank of America Stadium
In 1996, on their way to their first NFC Championship Game, Carolina defeated the then-defending Super Bowl Champion Dallas Cowboys in the first playoff game the stadium hosted. Again they defeated the Cowboys on their way to Super Bowl XXXVIII in Houston in 2004. Carolina was handed their first ever home playoff loss, 33–13, by the Arizona Cardinals on January 10, 2009 in the divisional round. The Panthers suffered a second home playoff loss against the San Francisco 49ers 23–10 on January 12, 2014 in the same round. On January 3, 2015, the Panthers won their first home playoff game in 12 years, defeating the Arizona Cardinals 27–16. En route to their fourth NFC Championship game appearance, the Panthers beat the Seattle Seahawks 31–24 in the divisional round on January 17, 2016. The Panthers defeated the Arizona Cardinals 49–15 in the NFC Championship game for their second NFC Championship in franchise history on January 24, 2016. This marked the first NFC Championship played and won at the stadium.