Sports franchises back affirmative action initiative.

In an unprecedented move, seven of the Bay Area’s major league sports franchises are lining up to support Proposition 16, a state constitutional amendment that would return affirmative action as part of the criteria in state hiring, contracting and college admissions.

The Golden State Warriors, San Francisco 49ers, San Francisco Giants, Oakland A’s, San Jose Sharks, San Jose Earthquakes and Oakland Roots are lined up to make a joint endorsement Wednesday.

The effort comes after weeks of discussions among the teams.

“For us it’s about equity and equality, not just on the field but off the field as well,” 49ers President Al Guido said.

If approved by voters in November, the measure would overturn Proposition 209, a constitutional amendment voters passed in 1996 that banned consideration of race and gender in state hires, contracts and college admissions.

Giants President Larry Baer said the teams’ move to statewide electoral politics was a natural progression.

“We’ve worked with the 49ers on health issues like masks and with the Warriors on civic issues,” Baer said. “This is a product of our individual conversations on racial equality.”

The potent sports lineup is aimed at drawing attention to a campaign that finds itself com

peting for attention with everything from the COVID19 pandemic to the presidential election.

“Affirmative action is the first step toward tearing down the barriers blocking many people from accessing California’s economic prosperity,” Yes on 16 spokesman Brian Brokaw said. “Hopefully, the teams’ involvement will help us reach a lot of voters who might otherwise never have heard of the campaign.”

Opponents say Prop. 16 could have the opposite effect of its intention.

“Be careful of what you wish for,” said former UC Regent Ward Connerly, who was a key figure in the passage of the earlier ban on affirmative action and is a leader of the current opposition. “To say that we want government to have greater power to discriminate as the way to get rid of discrimination is a bit Orwellian.”

Connerly said he doubted the teams’ push would have a big impact on voters.

“People are wise to that sort of thing, he said.

Despite California being a heavily blue state, affirmative action remains a hotbutton issue, especially among some Chinese American voters who fear using race and gender as part of the criteria for college admissions might come at the expense of their children getting into top state schools.

State Assemblyman Phil Ting, DSan Francisco, whose district includes large Chinese American populations in San Francisco and San Mateo County, said his office has received 33 letters in support of Prop. 16 and 287 letters in opposition from his district.

He got 17,396 additional letters opposing the measure from outside the district.

“The school issue is overshadowing the benefits the community could get in the hiring and awarding of contracts,” Ting said.

Resistance is especially strong in Southern California and Silicon Valley, a big reason why an earlier attempt to put an affirmative action measure before voters failed in the state Assembly in 2014.

But then came the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis and the national call for social justice, prompting state lawmakers in June to put the measure before voters.

But chances of Prop. 16 passing remain in question.

In Washington state, an initiative to bring back affirmative action failed 51% to 49% in a statewide ballot last November, in part because of opposition from the Chinese American community.

“It’s not a shooin. There are not guarantees at all,” Brokaw said.

And no guarantees for the teams against blowback by fans about mixing sports with politics.

The 49ers took a lot of heat when former quarterback Colin Kaepernick first took a knee during the national anthem to bring attention to police brutality.

But the teams are committed and ready to go public.

“Everyone has certain things they do not see eye to eye about, but that is the beauty of of this country,” Guido said.

Then and now: From U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s contribution to the Smithsonian Institution’s Senators on Suffrage exhibit, celebrating 100 years of women winning the vote, that went live on the National Museum of American History’s website Monday:

“I remember meeting with the officers of a very large bank when I was mayor. I looked around the table and there wasn’t a single woman at the table besides myself. When I pointed that out, the person who invited me said he didn’t even realize that was the case. He invited me back six months later and there were other women at the table.

“When I was first elected to the Senate in 1992, there were only two women serving in the Senate. That election was dubbed the ‘Year of the Woman’ because four women senators were elected. Today that number stands at 26, and I hope it’s not too long before we see 50 or more.

“Change will come if we continue to keep pushing.”

And finally, one thing is for certain: “We will lay out in detailed terms what we are going to do to make sure this will not happen again. That is the certainty that we are committed to in this moment, obviously, of uncertainty that you have been put into.” — Gov. Gavin Newsom, at Tuesday’s press briefing, promising an end to rolling energy blackouts.

San Francisco Chronicle columnist Phil Matier appears Sundays and Wednesdays. Matier can be seen on the KGOTV morning and evening news and can also be heard on KCBS radio Monday through Friday at 7:50 a.m. and 5:50 p.m. Got a tip? Call 4157778815, or email pmatier@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @philmatier