CEFCU Stadium

• 1. Introduction

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  CEFCU Stadium, then known as Spartan Stadium, nearly ceased to exist on the 19th of April 2007. That day, negotiations between San José State University and the San Jose Earthquakes broke down over revenue sharing. Earthquakes owners Lewis Wolff and John Fisher had proposed funding a privately built replacement just east of the old site. The university would supply the land. No deal was reached.

  The stadium they almost replaced had opened in 1933. Sitting in the Spartan Keyes neighborhood of San Jose, California, it started as a 4,000-seat bowl. Large earthen berms on all four sides gave it a "sunken bowl" appearance. San José State University has owned it since that first year, using it primarily as home for Spartan football. How it grew, who else played there, and why it eventually took a new name are the open questions.

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• 2. Growing the Bowl

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  By 1936, the stadium's capacity had already doubled to 8,500. Growth continued through the following decade. By 1948, the bowl held just over 18,000 spectators, built up through a series of incremental additions. The most dramatic phase came in the 1980s. End zone bleachers, an upper deck, and new boxes on the west side pushed capacity from roughly 18,000 to just over 31,000.

  In 1998, the playing field was widened to comply with official FIFA regulations. The renovation was carried out for the professional soccer team that shared the venue. Stands closest to the field were removed as part of this change, reducing available seating to 30,456.

  In the winter and spring of 2009, the natural grass playing field was removed and replaced with FieldTurf. This was a new generation of artificial turf, using crumb rubber and sand infill. The university cited savings in water use, fertilizer, seed, and labor as a result. In 2017, that surface was in turn replaced with AstroTurf Rhino Blend. In 2011, Daktronics installed an HD video screen at the south end of the stadium. The field itself runs north-northwest to south-southeast and sits at an approximate elevation of 100 feet above sea level.

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• 3. Soccer's Long Residency

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  The original San Jose Earthquakes, then part of the North American Soccer League, played at the stadium from 1974 to 1984. Soccer Bowl '75 was also held at the stadium during that decade. When MLS launched in 1996, the San Jose Clash became the new professional soccer tenant. The Clash later became the San Jose Earthquakes. That franchise stayed through the 2005 season.

  The San Jose CyberRays of the Women's United Soccer Association held the stadium as their home from 2001 to 2003. The San Francisco Dragons of Major League Lacrosse used the venue in 2008. On the 27th of September 2000, a crowd of 30,154 turned out for an international friendly. A friendly on the 14th of February 1986 drew a more modest 6,000 spectators. The NCAA Silicon Valley Football Classic, now defunct, was held at the stadium each year from 2000 to 2004. The venue's next major international commitment came in 1999, when it served as one of the host sites for the FIFA Women's World Cup.

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• 4. The 1999 Women's World Cup

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  On the 19th of June 1999, the stadium hosted two Women's World Cup group stage matches in a single day. Both drew 23,298 spectators. The quarterfinal round followed on the 30th of June. Two quarterfinal matches that day each drew 21,411 fans.

  Also in 1999, the stadium served as host for the NCAA Women's College Cup, a second major women's soccer event in the same calendar year. The stadium's international soccer calendar continued past those competitions. On the 2nd of June 2007, a friendly match drew 20,821 fans.

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• 5. The CEFCU Deal

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  In August 2016, Citizens Equity First Credit Union paid $8.7 million for sole naming rights to the stadium. The deal with San José State University was set to run for fifteen years. The stadium that had carried the Spartan name for over eight decades became CEFCU Stadium. The credit union's name is pronounced "sef-kyü."

  San José State was the first university in the California State University system to secure such a naming rights agreement. It was also the second university in the state of California to do so. Among the twelve member schools of the Mountain West Conference, the deal was only the third arrangement of its kind. The $8.7 million would go primarily to athletic scholarships, athletics operations, and athletics facilities. The stadium also hosts the university's commencement ceremony on Memorial Day weekend each year.

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• 6. The Spartan Athletics Center

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  In August 2023, the Spartan Athletics Center opened on the east side of CEFCU Stadium at an approximate cost of $70 million. The 55,000-square-foot, multi-story facility houses a football operations center, locker rooms, offices, and meeting and training rooms. A sports medicine center is included as well, alongside offices and locker rooms for the soccer program. The building also contains dining and hospitality facilities, event spaces, and premium viewing areas.

  Construction required the removal of approximately 9,000 seats from the east side of the stadium in 2019. The north end zone bleachers came down as well, making room for a new video scoreboard and an outdoor bar and lounge area. That scoreboard was completed in 2020. The seat removals temporarily reduced capacity to 21,520.

  As of 2023, a second phase of the renovation project remained in the planning stages. That phase is intended to replace spectator seating removed to make way for the Spartan Athletics Center. CEFCU Stadium stands one block from Excite Ballpark, home of the San Jose Giants, a Low-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants. The Tech CU Arena at Sharks Ice San Jose, home of the San Jose Barracuda of the American Hockey League, is equally close.

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