Super Bowl XVI Super Bowl XVI Super Bowl XVI was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion San Francisco 49ers and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Cincinnati Bengals to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for the 1981 season. The 49ers defeated the Bengals by the score of 26–21 to win their first Super Bowl. The game was played on January 24, 1982, at the Pontiac Silverdome in Pontiac, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. It marked the first time that a Super Bowl was held at a cold-weather city. The domed stadium saved the crowd at the
Super Bowl XXXVII its interest. The city was awarded the game during the May 26, 1999 meeting at Atlanta. Miami was the only other city in consideration. It was the last Super Bowl played in California until Super Bowl 50 at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara. It was the also the final Super Bowl at Qualcomm Stadium before the Chargers relocated to Los Angeles in 2017. Later in 2003, California would host the Stanley Cup Finals with the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim hosting games 3, 4, and 6, making it only the second time that the same state hosted both the Super Bowl