Where were all of the 49ers fans at the home opener?

There’s a new regime and a predominately new roster in Santa Clara but the first game of 2017 brought back a familiar sight: a lot of empty seats. The San Francisco 49ers opening game facing the Carolina Panthers was a hot afternoon in the 90s, and prior to the 1:25 PT kick off, it was pretty steamy on the field. Chatter began building about the attendance being sub par, about the product on the field being less than desirable to watch.

That was all “fake news” so to speak. The turnstile records indicate that there were over 62,000 people who walked through the gates, they just weren’t in their seats. Even though the team had issued a helpful advisory on Twitter, hats and sunscreen weren’t going to be enough.

The sunny side of the stadium was unbearable for most, even the Carolina players needed help shading themselves from the sun.

So where were all of the fans? They were in the concourse areas and lounges seeking refuge from the heat. This video from Justin Wembes shows how crowded they were.

While this proves that attendance was not an issue for the the 49ers, it does show that something needs to be done to increase the comfort of fans on the sunny side of the stadium. The organization is in talks with architects to work our some sort of resolution for this issue, but obviously the 2017 season will not have those benefits. Thankfully for fans the next home game will be a Thursday early evening affair, with kickoff scheduled for 5:30 p.m. This should provide a more tolerable temperature throughout the game. Following the Rams game, Levi’s Stadium doesn’t host another home game until the Cowboys come to town on October 22. Maybe by then there will be a more temperate climate in the stands.