The San Francisco 49ers are a professional American football team in the National Football League (NFL). The team was founded in 1946 as a charter member of the All-America Football Conference. The 49ers then joined the NFL in 1949 when the two leagues merged. The 49ers were the first major league professional sports team to play in San Francisco. The team has had a great amount of success in the NFL with five Super Bowl championships which is tied for second best in the league. These Super Bowls all came between the 1981 and 1994 seasons. Since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970, the 49ers have made 25 playoff appearances, won 19 division titles, and won 6 conference championships. Their only Super Bowl loss came in 2013 to the Baltimore Ravens. Former head coach Jim Harbaugh coached against his brother and Ravens head coach John Harbaugh in that Super Bowl.

The 49ers have played their home games at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California since 2014. Levi’s Stadium hosted Super Bowl 50 in 2016 and the College Football National Championship in 2019. The 49ers have had 13 NFL Hall of Famers, and they have retired 12 uniform numbers. The franchise is famous for transitions from one Hall of Fame quarterback, Joe Montana, to another, Steve Young. The two combined for five Super Bowl championships. The team also had Jerry Rice, who many consider to be the greatest wide receiver of all time, from 1985-2000 and Terrell Owens, a top five statistical receiver in NFL history, from 1996-2003.