CEFCU Stadium

CEFCU Stadium

Former names	Spartan Stadium (1933–2015)
Address	1257 S. 10th St.
Location	San Jose, California
Coordinates	37°19′11″N 121°52′6″W / 37.31972°N 121.86833°W / 37.31972; -121.86833Coordinates: 37°19′11″N 121°52′6″W / 37.31972°N 121.86833°W / 37.31972; -121.86833
Owner	San Jose State University
Operator	San Jose State University
Capacity	30,456[1] (2000–present) 31,218 (1985–99) 18,155 (1948–84) 11,000 (1937–47) 8,500 (1936–36) 4,000 (1933–35)
Surface	FieldTurf (2009–present) Grass (1933–2008)
Construction
Broke ground	1933
Opened	1933[2]
Expanded	1936–1937, 1948, 1985
Construction cost	$1.5 million (expansion)
Tenants
San Jose State Spartans (NCAA) (1933–present) San Jose Earthquakes (NASL/WSA) (1974–1988) San Francisco Bay Blackhawks/San Jose Hawks (WSA/APSL/USISL) (1989–1993) San Jose Clash/Earthquakes (MLS) (1996–2005) Bay Area/San Jose CyberRays (WUSA) (2001–2003) Silicon Valley Football Classic (NCAA) (2000–2004) San Francisco Dragons (MLL) (2008) California Redwoods (UFL) (2009)

CEFCU Stadium is an outdoor athletic stadium in the western United States, located in San Jose, California. Owned by San José State University, the venue is the longtime home of Spartan football. The stadium also hosts occasional high school football games, and the university commencement ceremony every year on Memorial Day weekend.^[3] Known as Spartan Stadium for over eight decades, it was renamed in 2016.

CEFCU Stadium was the home of the San Jose Earthquakes (originally San Jose Clash) of Major League Soccer from the league's inception in 1996 through the 2005 season. Other tenants have included the original San Jose Earthquakes of the North American Soccer League from 1974 to 1984, the San Jose CyberRays of the Women's United Soccer Association from 2001 to 2003, and the San Francisco Dragons of Major League Lacrosse in 2008. Soccer Bowl '75 was also held at Spartan Stadium.

During the winter and spring of 2009, the stadium's natural turf was removed and replaced with FieldTurf, a new generation of artificial turf with a crumb rubber and sand infill. This improvement has resulted in significant savings to the university in water use, fertilizer and seed. This project was completed in time for the May 2009 commencement ceremony.^[4]

The stadium also received significant upgrades to the scoreboard and sound system in 2011.^[5] This included installation of a high-definition video board (commonly called a JumboTron) by Daktronics at the south end of the stadium.^[6]

Stadium history

Originally built in 1933 as a 4,000-seat facility, CEFCU Stadium has been renovated and expanded over the years to its present seating capacity of 30,456.^[1] The most recent additions came in the late 1980s when the capacity of the stadium was expanded from 18,000 to approximately 33,000 by adding boxes and an upper deck on the west side. In the early 2000s, renovations were carried out for the San Jose Earthquakes in order to make the field wide enough for a FIFA regulation size field. As a result of these renovations, parts of the stands closest to the playing field were removed, thus lowering available seating for all sports to the stadium's present capacity of 30,456. The maximum capacity for MLS games is 26,525.

CEFCU Stadium has hosted numerous FIFA events. Most notably the stadium was used as one of the venues for the 1999 Women's World Cup.

The stadium also hosts the commencement ceremonies of San José State University every spring, as well as musical concerts throughout the year. CEFCU Stadium is only one block from San Jose Municipal Stadium, home of the San Jose Giants, the High A minor league baseball affiliate of the San Francisco Giants.

The now defunct NCAA Silicon Valley Football Classic bowl game was held at CEFCU Stadium from 2000 to 2004.

A CEFCU Stadium north end zone building addition is currently in the planning stages and will cost approximately $40 million. The 61,000 GSF facility will house sports medicine and athletic training space, a football team locker room, football coaching staff offices, meeting rooms, a hall of fame, and an auditorium. The facility will serve the day-to-day operations of the athletics department, and provide hospitality space on game days. It will be located at the South Campus site, north of CEFCU Stadium.^[7]

In August 2016, Citizens Equity First Credit Union purchased naming rights to Spartan Stadium for $8.7 million. The deal between CEFCU and San José State University will last for 15 years. SJSU is the only university in the California State University system to sell the naming rights to its football stadium. SJSU is one of three member universities in the Mountain West Conference to strike such a deal. The $8.7 million raised by the agreement will primarily be used for athletic scholarships, athletics operations, and athletics facilities.^[8]

Gallery

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  Spartan Stadium, San Jose CA – 1933

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  Spartan Stadium – San Jose State vs. Boise State – 2008

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  Spartan Stadium – Aerial view at night – 2008

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  First season using new "FieldTurf" playing surface, San Jose State vs. Utah – 2009

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  The Spartan Stadium field in 2015

References

External links

• SJSU Spartans.com – official athletics site
• Aerial photo (1998) - Spartan Stadium from USGS The National Map