Sacramento 49ers fans ready to make Super Bowl trip to Las Vegas
SACRAMENTO — While Super Bowl tickets may be out of some people's price ranges, San Francisco 49ers fans in the capital region aren't letting it stop them from traveling down to Las Vegas.
Sacramento native Fernando Jaramillo was worried about a spoiled birthday. With a luchador alter-ego known as Niner Nando, he kept the faith at halftime of the NFC Championship when the 49ers were down big against the Detroit Lions.
"We're going to win this. There's no way we're not going to win this," Jaramillo said of his thoughts in that moment. "Down 17, we're going to win this game, and as luck would have it, I was right."
His faith was rewarded, and he is now headed to Las Vegas to watch his team take on the defending champion Kansas City Chiefs in a Super Bowl rematch. Kansas City defeated San Francisco 31-20 in Super Bowl LIV in 2019.
"It's going to be a lot fun," Jaramillo said. "I'm sure there's going to be a lot of people going home broke and crying about it."
His story is one of many Sacramento 49ers fans finding their way to Sin City.
"They don't call us the faithful for nothing," fan Katrina Ruiz said.
Ruiz wasn't initially planning on staying for the Super Bowl. It was just a planned trip to see Adele.
"If my team's not playing, I don't really care," she said. "But my daughter says we have to stay. We have to enjoy ourselves."
Then came the playoffs.
"It's going to be Super Bowl in Vegas. That's going to be one of the best experiences, so she convinced me," Ruiz said of her daughter. "And then when the Niners started doing better and better, I was like, 'Oh, this is going to be awesome.' "
As families prepare for the trip, the excitement is setting in.
"There's a booster club that I've got a lot of friends there that are going to watch it," Jaramillo said. "I'm not sure where they're going to watch it. I don't really care. I'm going to be there for the fun."
The unique bond of Sacramento region Niner fans makes the experience all the sweeter.
"I started going to the watch parties and everyone has been really nice and really cool, and being a part of a community so quickly, moving to a new place, you can feel isolated, so it feels great," Ruiz said.
There will be plenty of watch parties, events and tailgates for traveling Niner fans on tap. We'll have you tapped into as many as possible as our coverage hits the road to Sin City on Monday.