The San Francisco 49ers have their home opener against the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday, and they may look a little but odd out on the field because they will be wearing all white rather than their iconic red home jerseys.
The 49ers will wear their all white '94 throwbacks in Sunday’s game against the Cardinals pic.twitter.com/J8PWGQr9mo
— Coach Yac 🗣 (@Coach_Yac) September 18, 2025
The reason they will be wearing their white jerseys early in the season at home is to try and help with the hot conditions at Levi's Stadium in September. The Niners will also wear white on Sept. 28 at home against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
San Francisco will only wear its red jerseys five times this season, which means it'll be in white for 11 of the 17 games, which is also kind of remarkable.
Last season against the Cardinals, the 49ers petitioned the NFL to allow them to wear their all-white throwbacks in a game in Santa Clara that reached alarming temperatures. The NFL denied their plea, so it seems the Niners tried to get out ahead of things this year. The 49ers lost that game, although that probably had less to do with what they were wearing than the fact that they were just terribly good at blowing games last season.
It will be weird not seeing the Niners in their typical red jerseys, especially for their home opener, but if it gives them any sort of competitive advantage no matter how small, then it is a smart move since Levi's can get uncomfortably hot this time of year.
Thankfully, the Niners will not be debuting their new all black "Rivalries" uniforms until the regular-season finale against the Seattle Seahawks in Week 18. If the Niners were at home in Week 1 against Seattle and had to wear those black uniforms during the day, it could have been an absolute disaster. Thankfully, the weather should be much more mild in Santa Clara by the end of the season, so it should not be an issue.
Even though it will be strange, the Niners have played good football in those all white uniforms over the years. They have gone up to Seattle and won big games against the Seahawks wearing them, and they actually wore them at home back in 2019 when they trounced the Carolina Panthers 51-13.
Let's hope the Niners can have a similar performance on Sunday against Arizona.