Santa Clara, CA – Empire Row sits on the edge of Levis Stadium and Green Lot-1 and is run by some of the truest Diehards you will ever meet. They are passionate about our 49ers, and have created an environment to share the best 49er tailgate experience ever with all who visit.

The name “Empire Row” came about during the excitement of the 2014 tailgater of the year competition. It was towards the end of Levis Stadiums inaugural season when AJ Esperanza, the founder of our incredible world wide Niner Empire movement, posted “Come to Empire Row” on social media and the name stuck.

It just had to become the future for our fellow fans! We had to create a taste of the Candlestick tailgating experience to our team’s new home. During the off season AJ and Raj of The Niner Empire Organization decided to bring together award winning Candlestick tailgaters to join forces.  During the Candlestick days these groups had tailgated on their own. Now it was time to come together and bring Candlestick vibes to Levis.

One of the bigger tailgate groups known as “The Red Zone” tailgating crew got it’s start around 1996. Over the years, fellow Candlestick tailgaters Antonio Arevalo of “The Red Zone Tailgate” and Auggie Perez of “Mine49 Tailgate” would connect. On every game day you would be sure to find them at Pole R hosting the biggest gathering of the tailgates at the historic Candlestick Stadium’s parking lot. They would have the best foods on the grill and known to have a live performances by 49er faithful recording artists performing their 49er Anthems for the fans before heading into the game.

They went on to become the very first tailgating group to win Candlestick’s “Tailgater of the Game” award.