Cardinale Stadium is a

soccer-specific stadium Soccer-specific stadium is a term used mainly in the United States and Canada to refer to a sports stadium either purpose-built or fundamentally redesigned for soccer and whose primary function is to host soccer matches, as opposed to a multi-pu ...

on the campus of

California State University, Monterey Bay California State University, Monterey Bay (CSUMB or Cal State Monterey Bay) is a public university in Monterey County, California. Its main campus is located on the site of the former military base Fort Ord, straddling the cities of Seaside and ...

Seaside, California Seaside, formerly East Monterey, is a city in Monterey County, California, United States, with a population of 32,366 as of the 2020 census. It is located east-northeast of Monterey, at an elevation of , and is the home of California State Unive ...

. It is the home of

Monterey Bay FC Monterey Bay Football Club is an American professional soccer team based in Monterey County, California. The club was established on February 21, 2021, and is a member of the USL Championship, the second tier of the American soccer league system ...

of the

USL Championship The USL Championship (USLC) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that began its inaugural season in 2011. The USL is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer) as a Division II league since 2017, pl ...

History

The venue opened in 1951 as Freeman Stadium. It hosted the Fort Ord Warriors, a semi-pro football team made up of servicemen from

Fort Ord Fort Ord is a former United States Army post on Monterey Bay of the Pacific Ocean coast in California, which closed in 1994 due to Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) action. Most of the fort's land now makes up the Fort Ord National Monument, m ...

. In the 1950s they played such teams as the

Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division. The Rams play ...

and the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

. Fort Ord was closed in 1994 and some of the land, including the stadium, became the home of California State University, Monterey Bay. Ground breaking for the stadium renovations took place on September 16, 2021. The team entered into a multi-year partnership with the Cardinale Automotive Group for the stadium naming rights. Thus, the venue was renamed Cardinale Stadium. The stadium opened on May 7, 2022, when Monterey Bay defeated

Las Vegas Lights FC Las Vegas Lights FC is an American professional soccer team based in Las Vegas, Nevada, that plays in the USL Championship. The team made its debut in 2018 and plays its home games at Cashman Field. The team employs neon imagery in its crest a ...

1–0 on a goal by

Walmer Martinez Walmer Osmar Gómez Martínez (born 17 August 1998) is a professional footballer who plays for USL Championship club Monterey Bay FC. Born in the United States, he represents the El Salvador national team. Early life Martinez was born in Santa ...

in the 56th minute.

References

{{USL Championship venues Sports venues completed in 2022 Soccer venues in California Monterey Bay FC USL Championship stadiums 2022 establishments in California