Candlestick Park Candlestick Park ( also commonly referred to as Candlestick or The Stick ) is an outdoor sports and entertainment stadium located in San Francisco , California , in the Bayview Heights area . The stadium was originally built as the home of Major League Baseball ' s San Francisco Giants , who played there from 1960 until moving into Pacific Bell Park ( since renamed AT & T Park ) in 2000 . Currently it is the home field of the San Francisco 49ers NFL team , who moved in for the 1971 season . Candlestick Park is set to be replaced by a new 49ers Stadium in 2015 . The stadium is situated at Candlestick Point on the western shore of the San Francisco Bay . Due to its location next to the bay , strong winds often swirl down into the stadium , creating unusual playing conditions . At the time of its construction in the late 1950s , the stadium site was one of the few pieces of land available in the city that was suitable for a sports stadium and had space for the 10 , 000 parking spaces promised to the Giants . The surface of the field is natural bluegrass , but for nine seasons the stadium had artificial turf , from 1970 to 1978 . A " sliding pit " configuration , with dirt cut - outs only around the bases , was installed in 1971 , primarily to keep the dust down from the breezy conditions . Following the 1978 football season , the artificial turf was removed . Natural grass was re - installed before the 1979 baseball season . Park history . When the New York Giants arrived in San Francisco in 1958 , they played their home games at the old Seals Stadium at 16th and Bryant Streets . The City of San Francisco agreed to build a stadium if they moved from New York . Most of the land at Candlestick Point was purchased from Charles Harney , a local contractor . Harney purchased the land in 1952 for a quarry and industrial development . He made a profit of over $ 2 million when he sold the land for the stadium . Harney received a no - bid contract to build the stadium . The entire deal was the subject of a Grand Jury investigation in 1958 . Ground was broken in for the new home of Major League Baseball ' s San Francisco Giants , who had moved west from New York following the end of the 1957 season . The Giants selected the name of Candlestick Park after a name - the - park contest on March 3 , 1959 . Prior to that , its construction site had been shown on maps as the generic Bay View Stadium . It was the first modern baseball stadium , as it was the first to be built entirely of reinforced concrete . Then Vice - President Richard Nixon threw out the first baseball on the opening day of Candlestick Park on April 12 , 1960 , and the Oakland Raiders played their 1961 American Football League season at Candlestick . The Beatles played their last live commercial concert at Candlestick Park on August 29 , 1966 . The stadium was enclosed during the winter of 1971 – 72 for the 49ers , with stands built around the outfield . The result was that the wind speed dropped marginally , but often swirled around throughout the stadium , and the view of the Bay was lost . The stadium hosted two MLB All - Star Games ( 1961 and 1984 ) , one National League Division Series ( 1997 ) , three National League Championship Series ( 1971 , 1987 and 1989 ) , two World Series ( 1962 and 1989 ) , and six NFC Championship games , the most notable being in January 1982 when Dwight Clark caught a game - winning touchdown pass from Joe Montana to lead the 49ers to their first Super Bowl ( see " The Catch " ) . Candlestick Park was also home to dozens of commercial shoots as well as the location for the climatic scene in both the 1962 thriller " Experiment in Terror " and the 1973 Richard Rush comedy " Freebie and the Bean " . In February , 2011 scenes for " Contagion " staring Matt Damon , Kate Winslet and Jude Law were filmed at the stadium . On October 17 , 1989 , the Loma Prieta earthquake ( measuring 7 . 1 on the Richter Scale ) struck San Francisco , minutes before Game 3 of the World Series was to begin at Candlestick . Remarkably , no one within the stadium was injured , although minor structural damage was incurred to the stadium . Al Michaels and Tim McCarver , who called the game for ABC , later credited the stadium ' s design for saving thousands of lives . The World Series between the Giants and Oakland Athletics was subsequently delayed for 10 days , in part to give engineers time to check the stadium ' s ( and that of nearby Oakland - Alameda County Coliseum ) overall structural soundness . During this time , the 49ers moved their game against the New England Patriots on October 22 to Stanford Stadium . In , the Giants moved to the new Pacific Bell Park ( now called AT & T Park ) in the South Beach neighborhood , leaving the 49ers as the sole professional sports team to use Candlestick . The final baseball game was played on Sept . 30 , 1999 , against the Los Angeles Dodgers , who won 9 – 4 . Currently , Candlestick Park is the only NFL stadium that began as a baseball - only facility and underwent extensive reconstruction to accommodate football , as evidenced by the stadium ' s unusual oblong design that leaves many seats on what was the right - field side of the stadium behind the eastern grandstand of the stadium during football games . Reputation . As a baseball field , the stadium was best known for the windy conditions , damp air and dew from fog , and chilly temperatures . The wind often made life difficult for outfielders trying to catch fly balls , as well as for fans , while the damp grass further complicated play for outfielders that had to play in cold , wet shoes . Architect John Bolles designed the park with a boomerang - shaped concrete baffle in the upper tier to protect the park from wind . Unfortunately , it never worked . For Candlestick ' s first 10 seasons , the wind blew in from left - center and out toward right - center . When the park was expanded to accommodate the 49ers in 1971 , it was thought fully enclosing the park would cut down on the wind . Instead , the wind swirled from all directions , and was as strong and cold as before . During the first All Star Game of ( one of two played in the park — the other was in ) , Giants pitcher Stu Miller was blown off balance by a gust of wind and was charged with a balk . Two years later , wind picked up the entire batting cage and dropped it 60 feet ( 18 m ) away on the pitcher ’ s mound while the New York Mets were taking batting practice . The stadium also had the reputation as the coldest park in the major leagues . It was initially built with a radiant heating system of hot water pipes under the Lower Box seats in a space between the concrete and the ground . As the pipes were not embedded in the concrete it did not produce enough heat to offset the cold air . Both the city and the Giants balked at the cost of upgrading the system so it would work properly ( e . g . , to removing the seats and concrete , embedding larger pipes , and replacing the concrete and seats ) . As a result , the Giants played more day games than any Major League Baseball team except the Chicago Cubs , whose ballpark , Wrigley Field , did not have lights installed until 1988 . Many locals , including Giants ' broadcaster Lon Simmons , were surprised at the decision to build the park right on the bay , in one of the coldest areas of the city . The Giants eventually played on the reputation to bolster fan support with promotions such as awarding the Croix de Candlestick pin to fans who stayed for the duration of extra - inning night games . Among many less - than - flattering fan nicknames for the park were " North Pole , " " Candlestink , " " Candleshit , " " Cave of the Winds , " and " Windlestick . " Older fans called it " The Dump " in honor of the former use of the land . Ironically , the Giants played their last game at Candlestick under blue skies with no fog and a game time temperature of a very non - Candlestick - like 82 degrees . Giants owner Horace Stoneham visited the site as early as 1957 . He was involved in the design of the stadium from the outset and was aware of the weather conditions . The architect designed the roof baffle to extend into left field to diminish the prevailing wind but the size of the structure was reduced for cost savings . In 1962 , he commissioned a study of the wind conditions . The study revealed that conditions would have been significantly improved had the park been built one hundred yards farther to the north . Locating the stadium in that location would have meant building it on fill which is unstable during earthquakes . The stadium ' s location on the bedrock of Bayview Hill provided more stability . The winds are intense in the immediate area of the park . Studies showed they were no more frequent than other parts of San Francisco but are subject to higher gusts . This is because of a hill immediately adjacent to the park . This hill , in turn , is the first topographical obstacle met by the prevailing winds arriving from the Pacific Ocean seven miles to the west . Arriving at Candlestick from the Pacific , these winds travel through what is known as the Alemany Gap before reaching the hill . The combination of ocean winds free - flowing to Candlestick , then swirling over the adjacent hill created the cold and windy conditions that were the bane of the Giants ' 40 - year stay on Candlestick Point . These same winds , of course , attract wind - surfers in droves to the wind - whipped San Francisco Bay coves south of Candlestick . It is indeed the wind and not the ambient air temperature that provides Candlestick ' s famed chill . The Giants ' subsequent home , AT & T Park , is just one degree warmer , but is far less windy , creating a " warmer " ( relatively speaking ) effect . While the wind is a summer condition ( hot inland , cool oceanside ) , winter weather is right in line with the rest of sea level Northern California ( mild with occasional rain ) . Attorney Melvin Belli filed a claim against the Giants in 1960 because his six - seat box , which cost him almost $ 1 , 600 , was unbearably cold . Belli won in court , claiming that the " radiant heating system " advertised was a failure . Other design flaws and irregularities . Candlestick was an object of scorn from baseball purists for reasons other than weather . Name changes . Candlestick Park was named for Candlestick Point , a point of land jutting into San Francisco Bay . Some think that Candlestick Point was named for the indigenous " candlestick bird " ( Long - billed Curlew ) , once common to the point . The book " California Geographic Names " lists Candlestick Point as being named for a pinnacle of rock first noted in 1781 by the De Anza Expedition . This pinnacle was also noted by the U . S Geodetic Survey in 1869 . The pinnacle disappeared around 1920 . The rights to the stadium name were licensed to 3Com Corporation from September 1995 until 2002 , for $ 900 , 000 a year . During that time , the park became known as 3Com Park at Candlestick Point , or , simply , 3Com Park . In 2002 , the naming rights deal expired , and the park then became officially known as San Francisco Stadium at Candlestick Point . On Sept . 28 , 2004 , a new naming rights deal was signed with Monster Cable , a maker of cables for electronic equipment , and the stadium was renamed Monster Park . However , just over a month later , a measure passed in the November 2 election stipulated that the stadium name revert back to Candlestick permanently after the contract with Monster expired in 2008 . Despite these name changes , many fans still called the stadium Candlestick Park . Some even mocked the 3Com sponsorship , calling it " dot com park . " The City and County of San Francisco had trouble finding a new naming sponsor due in part to the downturn in the economy , but also because the stadium ' s tenure as 3Com Park was tenuous at best . Many local fans were annoyed with the change and continued referring to the park by its original name , regardless of the official name . The Giants reportedly continued to call the stadium " Candlestick Park " in media guides , because the naming rights were initiated by the 49ers . Freeway signs in the vicinity were changed to read " Monster Park " as part of an overall signage upgrade to national standards on California highways , but as of 2008 , those signs have been changed back to Candlestick Park . The name change also ended up being confusing for the intended branding purposes , as without the " Cable " qualifier in the official name , many erroneously thought the stadium was named for the Monster . com employment website or Monster Energy Drink , not the cable vendor . On August 10 , 2007 , San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom announced that the playing field would be renamed Bill Walsh Field in honor of the former Stanford and 49ers coach , who died on July 30 that year , pending the approval of the city government . However the stadium will retain its current name as is contractually obligated . Commentators still use this name occasionally , most recently when Jerry Rice ' s jersey was retired . On September 18 , 2009 , Sports Illustrated ' s Peter King used the mock - combination name " Candle3Monsterstick " in reference to the many name changes the stadium has gone through . Future . Plans were underway to construct a new 68 , 000 - seat stadium at Candlestick Point . However , on November 8 , 2006 , the 49ers announced that they would abandon their search for a location in San Francisco and begin to actively pursue the idea of building a stadium in Santa Clara , California . As a result , San Francisco withdrew its bid for the 2016 Olympics on November 13 , 2006 , as its centerpiece stadium was lost . However , 49ers ownership continued to press forward ; as a result of Santa Clara ' s approval of Measure J , construction of the new stadium was approved , and is slated to begin in 2012 . It is unknown what will happen to Candlestick Park , although it will most likely be demolished once the 49ers move into the new stadium in 2015 . The Beatles ' final concert . The Beatles gave their final full concert at Candlestick Park on August 29 , 1966 . Songs performed at the show were " Rock and Roll Music , " " She ' s a Woman , " " If I Needed Someone , " " Day Tripper , " " Baby ' s in Black , " " I Feel Fine , " " Yesterday , " " I Wanna Be Your Man , " " Nowhere Man , " " Paperback Writer , " and " Long Tall Sally . " A rough recording of most of the concert was left unreleased , although the audio has leaked on to the internet . The recording cuts off during the last minute of the concert , interrupting " Long Tall Sally . " Film of the concert was captured by a 15 - year - old fan and featured in a documentary called " The Unseen Beatles , " as well as by news teams from television stations from San Francisco and Sacramento .