I know all you football fans out there, just like me, are waiting with baited breath for the first football game of the season that's just a handful of days away!    The first game of the season is the Hall of Fame Game between Buffalo and the NY Giants on Sunday, August 3rd and will be played at Canton’s Fawcett Stadium at 5pm west coast time.   This year's game will be broadcast on NBC with hosts, Chris Collinsworth and Al Michaels.

Here in the bay area, the Oakland Raiders kick off their pre-season on August 8th against the Minnesota Vikings.   The game will be televised on KTVU at 5pm pacific coast time.

The San Francisco Forty-Niners open their pre-season game against Baltimore which will be air on KPIX at 4:30pm pacific coast time.

The first pre-season game the niner's will be playing ever in the new Levi's Stadium is Sunday, August 17th.   As of this writing, pre-season game tickets are still available for about $62/seat.   The entire regular season is already sold out, so this may be your time to get in and experience the brand new stadium.

Being located in the Silicon Valley, Levi stadium is known to be the most high tech stadium in the country. 

The 49ers' new home, which is the first LEED Gold Certified stadium in the NFL for its environmentally friendly design, will hold about 68,500 fans and has the ability to expand to 75,000 for Super Bowl 50 in February 2016. The facility features 165 luxury suites, 9,000 club seats and a green roof-top deck that includes solar panels and herb gardens that will be harvested for on-site food preparation.

There is also a special propriatary app that will guide traffic to specific lots.  The stadium asks that you do not use google maps, but instead their app to get smoothly in and out of the stadium area.  BTW: Great America will be closed on game days. Here is a story that will tell you about that: 
http://www.mercurynews.com/southbayfootball/ci_26147522/49ers-custom-levis-stadium-traffic-and-parking-plans

Now, with the recent release of the stadium's food menu, it will be the most vegetarian/vegan friendly venue in the entire sports industry.   According to General Manager Zach Hensely,  there are dedicated vegan dog stands serving Field Roast vegan franks, and 32 vegan menu options total, with at least one at every permanent food stand.   The stadium notes that 85% of products come from California with 78% of those within 150 miles of the stadium.

Some other numbers about the food:

• 180+ menu items total
• 800+ points of sale, all taking credit cards
• 33 permanent concession stands
• 13,500 pizza slices estimated to be sold on game day
• 5,000 burgers estimated to be sold on game day
• 7,000 frankfurters estimated to be sold on game day
• 12,000 garlic fries estimated to be sold on game day
• 1,000+ beer handles
• 27 miles of beer lines

Among the items fans will find aside from the traditional frankfurters (the word hot dog is banned) and nachos are:

• Wood fired pizzas
• Angus burgers, ground daily in-house
• Oyster pan roast
• Barbecue jackfruit sandwich
• Steamed pork buns
• Indian curries
• Tortas
• Panini's
• Lemon bars and red velvet cupcakes

There will be 350 people working every game day to move the lines quickly. (That's one register for every 8 people)

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With the stadium's free Wi-Fi, if you don't want to stand in line, you can download the stadium's app that will allow you to place your order from your seat and have it ready when you arrive to pick it up.  OR for a few dollars more, the app allows you to have your order delivered directly to where you are sitting.

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And in even better news yet, the stadium features 1,135 toilets, up from Candlestick's 885 with an app that will let you check the waiting time of the lines....

Here's the link to the app:   http://www.levisstadium.com/49ers-games/stadium-app/

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If you are not a season ticket holder, you can take a tour of the stadium.  The tour runs 90 minutes and costs between $25-$35 dollars.   Tours are available everyday rain or shine, year-round with exceptions around 49ers home games, major Levi’s® Stadium events, and select holidays.

More information:  http://www.levisstadium.com/tours/public-tours/
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Driving Directions:
Take a right onto Highway One as you exit Pillar Point RV Park.   In approximately 3 miles, take a left onto Highway 92 to 101.  Take Highway 101 South toward San Jose.  Continue to Great America Parkway.  Take the exit and head back across the bridge.  Follow signs to the stadium or call up the stadium app that will guide you to the best parking area available at the time.

Public Transit:
Take a left as you exit Pillar Point RV Park.  Drive thru Pacifica to exit 510 in Colma and follow the signs to the BART station just ahead of you as you exit the highway.
Take the Colma Bart to Millbrae
Take Cal-Train to Mountain View
Take VTA to the stadium

*Be sure to give yourself plenty of time to get there using public transit.



49er Game Schedule 2014
http://www.49ers.com/schedule/season-schedule.html

Raiders Game Schedule 2014
http://www.levisstadium.com/49ers-games/stadium-app/

COLLEGE

Cal Berkeley
http://www.calbears.com/ViewArticle.dbml?ATCLID=209362650

Stanford University
http://www.gostanford.com/SportSelect.dbml?SPID=127013&SPSID=749927