A new academic partnership between University of the Pacific and the San Francisco 49ers renews a relationship between the two organizations that began more than 25 years ago.

Pacific’s Stockton Campus hosted the team’s annual summer training camp for five years, from 1998 to 2002.

The San Francisco 49ers made the move to Pacific under the leadership of then-President Don DeRosa just three years after winning the Super Bowl for the fifth time. The team had previously held its training camp at Sierra College in Rocklin.

According to former Provost Philip N. Gilbertson in his book “Pacific on the Rise,” the partnership not only brought a great deal of excitement from 49ers fans at Pacific and the surrounding community but also brought new facilities and revenue to the university.

Led by a generous donation from alumnus Alex Spanos ’48, fans donated money to build the Pacific Intercollegiate Athletics Center to be used during training camp, the first new building under DeRosa’s presidency.

“Thanks to the initial partnership agreement with the 49ers, the university was able to construct the sparkling new athletics center, built next to the Alex G. Spanos Center, for use year-round by Pacific Athletics and shared usage by the 49ers for six weeks every summer,” said Senior Director of Development Jim Dugoni, who was Pacific’s assistant director of athletics at the time. “During the summer training camps, our entire Pacific Athletics administrative staff transitioned up to the Pacific Club on the top rim of Stagg Memorial Stadium so that the 49ers coaches could utilize our offices.”

The building remains the main hub for Pacific Athletics. The move also brought central air conditioning to three residence halls for the first time, which were refurbished to house the team’s players. Annual payments from the 49ers also helped fund academic and physical plant building upgrades.

According to the 49ers’ website, an average of 1,300 fans attended camp daily. “During that time, the 49ers became part of the Stockton family,” the 49ers shared. “Fans were allowed to get close to the action, make eye contact with their favorite players and hear the grunts and groans at individual drills from less than five yards away.”

Matt Camino ’03, Pacific’s director of ecommerce, recalls coming to Stockton to watch the first-ever training camp with his dad, which ultimately led to him attending Pacific.

“Since I was headed into my senior year of high school, we decided to take an unofficial tour of campus during a break in practices,” he said. “I liked campus a lot and the business school offered my intended major, so I picked up an application. It’s amazing to look back now how a trip to training camp shaped my entire future.”

Spanos, owner of the then-San Diego Chargers, offered to bring his team for a scrimmage against the 49ers the first year of camp. It was Spanos who suggested to his friend Eddie DeBartolo, owner of the 49ers at the time, that he consider moving training camp to Stockton.

The scrimmage resulted in a sold-out game at Amos Alonzo Stagg Memorial Stadium with nearly 30,000 fans in attendance. The team remained at Pacific for training camp for five years, from 1998 to 2002, before opening their own training camp site in Santa Clara.

The 49ers Foundation also made an impact on the community outside of camp, partnering with the Stockton-San Joaquin County Public Library for a summer reading program. According to the Stockton Record, children who participated were rewarded with free admission to the 49ers-Chargers scrimmage and also had the opportunity to meet with former 49ers players.

The new academic partnership launched with the 49ers rekindles the two organizations shared commitment to expand access to education for youth across Northern California.