Three weeks ago, a playoff berth was on the line for the San Francisco 49ers and their fans — “The Faithful” — turned SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif., into their home away from home.
Rams players — and at least two of their wives — feared a repeat of the scene in which fans of the visiting team were so raucous that the home team’s offense had to go to a silent count in its own house. Surely there wouldn’t be a repeat of that scene when the teams met again in the playoffs, right?
Those concerns may not have been misplaced because there were multiple reports of flights from the Bay Area to L.A. jammed with Niners fans for Sunday’s NFC championship game against the Rams, and Vividseats, a ticket resale company, reported that as much as 65 percent of the SoFi crowd might be rooting for San Francisco. Even Kurt Warner, the Hall of Famer who won a Super Bowl with the Rams when they played in St. Louis, was alarmed Saturday when he arrived for his flight from Arizona to L.A.
“My plane to LA is filled with @49ers fans,” he tweeted. "…trying to figure out how to keep this plane grounded for about 28hrs (and still get myself to LA for @NFLGameDay Morning & to game for @westwood1sports) …so @RamsNFL fans. send me your best ideas!??? #WhoseHouse”
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The scene at the airport in San Francisco was an impromptu pep rally with Sourdough Sam.
Sourdough Sam, the 49ers team mascot, high fives a passenger during a pep rally at SFO on Saturday.
United Airlines surprised a full flight of travelers heading to LAX, most of which were 49er fans going to LA for the NFC Championship game. pic.twitter.com/BPCsqbgOx4
— San Francisco Chronicle (@sfchronicle) January 29, 2022San Francisco Chronicle columnist Ann Killion estimated Saturday that “at least 80 percent of my flight is people wearing 49ers gear. If this is replicated on every flight to LA…”
By Sunday morning on the East Coast, “#49ersinvasion” was trending on Twitter, with an assortment of selfies of 49ers-garbed passengers continuing to board airplanes. It was enough to raise questions about whether the Rams’ brief attempt last week to restrict ticket sales to customers with L.A. area Zip codes had backfired.
Shane Stern, a lifelong 49ers fan who lives in Thousand Oaks, Calif., found out just how great the demand for tickets was among San Fran fans when he tweeted an offer to “happily buy everyone’s tickets” using his billing address if fans sent him money in advance via Venmo. He was greeted by a deluge of messages from all over the country.
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“I was pretty surprised,” Stern told Yahoo Sports. “They told me where they wanted to sit and let me know that they were ready to send the money.”
He was able to take care of “quite a few people” before the Rams relented and lifted their restrictions. They’re in a Super Bowl-or-bust season and have lost their last six games against the NFC West rival 49ers. Coach Sean McVay is 3-7 against 49ers Coach Kyle Shanahan and hasn’t beaten San Francisco since Week 17 of the 2018 season.
Kelly Stafford, the wife of the Rams quarterback, was willing to do her part as she looked for an edge for the home team.
“Just went on Ticketmaster and saw how expensive tickets are getting. I’m going to buy a good amount and give them away,” she wrote on Instagram. “If you are a hard core rams fan, or just a regular rams fan, a veteran, active in the military, a public servant, etc. email me …and tell me your story with some photos attached!”
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The rush by 49ers fans to buy tickets on the secondary market began Monday, when all presale tickets had been snapped up and the Rams lifted their restrictions. “The Rams aren’t going to stop anybody who wants tickets from coming,” Joe Leonor, whose 49ers fan group Niner Empire has over 100 chapters, told Yahoo. “What they’re doing really just infuriates 49ers fans. You’re trying to keep us out? Okay, now we really are going to go.”
The last time the teams met, on Jan. 9, at least one-third and possibly up to half of the SoFi stands were filled with 49ers fans by the Mercury News’ reckoning. McVay admitted at that time that the number of Bay Area fans “did catch us off guard. There was a lot of red there.”
Last week, a possibility of a repeat drew attention from players and another wife of a player. Melissa Whitworth, whose husband, Andrew, is a Rams offensive tackle, admitted Sunday night that she was worried about a Bay Area invasion and was willing to pay to prevent it.
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“If you @RamsNFL fans want to sell your tickets — I’ll buy them,” Whitworth tweeted. “Just DO NOT sell them to the other team PLEASE!”
In reply to a 49ers fan who told her it “sounds like they’re worried,” she admitted that she is.
“Wouldn’t you be?” she tweeted. “I’ve been around a LONG time and know how hard these games can be. But being ------ to a players wife doesn’t speak well for you … but y’all keep being classless. It’s a good look.”
If you @RamsNFL fans want to sell your tickets - I’ll buy them. Just DO NOT sell them to the other team PLEASE!
— Melissa Whitworth (@mrs_whit77) January 23, 2022Need lots of Red in Sofi Sunday!!😇🤟🏾
— Fred Warner (@fred_warner) January 24, 2022I get that we turned sofi stadium to Levi’s but restricting fan from buying tickets is kraxy to me….. IJS
— Deebo (@19problemz) January 24, 2022ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7uK3SoaCnn6Sku7G70q1lnKedZMCxu9GtqmhqYGd%2FcHyQaGppZ56buW6AmJ6prGWWlru0ew%3D%3D