CEFCU ('sef-kyü) Stadium, formerly known as Spartan Stadium, is an outdoor athletic stadium on the

west coast West Coast or west coast may refer to: Geography Australia * Western Australia *Regions of South Australia#Weather forecasting, West Coast of South Australia * West Coast, Tasmania **West Coast Range, mountain range in the region Canada * Britis ...

of the United States, located in the

Spartan Keyes Spartan Keyes is a neighborhood of central San Jose, California, located just south of Downtown San Jose. Spartan Keyes is home to a notable community of artists, art studios, and galleries. The neighborhood is home to the south campus of San Jo ...

neighborhood of central San Jose, California. Owned by San José State University, the venue is the longtime home of Spartan football; it also hosts the university's commencement ceremony on Memorial Day weekend, and occasional high school football games. Known as Spartan Stadium for over eight decades, it was renamed in

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

. CEFCU Stadium was the home of the

San Jose Earthquakes The San Jose Earthquakes are an American professional soccer team based in San Jose, California. The Earthquakes compete as a member club of the Western Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). Originally as the San Jose Clash, the franchise ...

(originally San Jose Clash) of

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

from the league's inception in 1996 through the 2005 season. Other tenants have included the original

of the North American Soccer League from 1974 to 1984, the

San Jose CyberRays San Jose CyberRays was a professional soccer team that played in the Women's United Soccer Association. The team played at Spartan Stadium on the South Campus of San José State University in San Jose, California. Stars included U.S. National ...

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 CEFCU. During the winter and spring of

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

, the stadium's natural grass playing field was removed and replaced with FieldTurf, a new generation of

artificial turf Artificial turf is a surface of synthetic fibers made to look like natural grass. It is most often used in arenas for sports that were originally or are normally played on grass. However, it is now being used on residential lawns and commer ...

with a crumb rubber and sand infill. This improvement has resulted in significant savings to the university in water use, fertilizer, seed, and labor. This project was completed in time for the May 2009 commencement ceremony. It was replaced with

AstroTurf AstroTurf is an American subsidiary of SportGroup that produces artificial turf for playing surfaces in sports. The original AstroTurf product was a short-pile synthetic turf invented in 1965 by Monsanto. Since the early 2000s, AstroTurf has m ...

Rhino Blend in

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

. The playing field is aligned north-northwest to south-southeast, at an approximate elevation of above sea level. The stadium also received significant upgrades to the scoreboard and sound system in 2011 and 2020. This included installation of an HD video screen by Daktronics at the south end of the stadium in 2011, and a new, much larger video board at the north end in 2020.

Stadium history

Opened in 1933 as a 4,000-seat facility, CEFCU Stadium has been renovated and expanded over the years. The most recent additions came in the 1980s when the capacity of the stadium was expanded from 18,000 to approximately 31,000 by adding boxes and an upper deck on the west side. In 1998, the field was widened and other renovations were carried out for the San Jose Earthquakes soccer team in accordance with official

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

regulations. 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 30,456. Seating capacity remained at 30,456 until 2019, when it was temporarily reduced to 21,520 as part of a massive east-side stadium renovation project. The project is scheduled to be completed in August 2023. In August 2016, Citizens Equity First Credit Union purchased sole naming rights to Spartan Stadium for $8.7 million. The deal between CEFCU and San José State University will last for 15 years. SJSU was the first university in the California State University system and second university in the state of California to strike such a deal. The CEFCU sponsorship deal marked the third such arrangement among the 12 Mountain West Conference football members. The $8.7 million payout will primarily be used for athletic scholarships, athletics operations, and athletics facilities.

Spartan Athletics Center and East-side Renovations

A CEFCU Stadium east-side building addition is currently under construction at a projected cost of $57.6 million. Known as the Spartan Athletics Center, the 55,000 square-foot, multi-story facility will house a new football operations center, locker rooms, offices, meeting and training rooms and a sports medicine center. The facility will also include soccer team offices and locker rooms, as well as dining and hospitality facilities, event spaces and premium viewing areas. Along with construction of the SAC, a major renovation of the stadium's entire east side is currently underway. The east-side stadium renovation has temporarily reduced seating capacity at CEFCU Stadium from just over 30,000 to 21,520. Approximately 9,000 seats were removed from the stadium in 2019 to make way for the new building. This includes virtually all of the east-side stadium seating and some of the north end zone bleachers. The north end zone bleachers were removed to make way for construction of a new state-of-the-art video scoreboard and outdoor bar and lounge area. The new scoreboard was completed in 2020. SAC construction and the east and north-side stadium renovations are projected to be completed in August 2023.

Other uses

The now defunct NCAA

Silicon Valley Football Classic The Silicon Valley Football Classic (SVFC), sometimes referred to as the Silicon Valley Bowl or Silicon Valley Classic, was an National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA-certified Division I-A post-season college football bowl game that was ...

bowl game was held at CEFCU Stadium from 2000 to 2004. 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 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup was the third edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, the world championship for women's national soccer teams. It was hosted as well as won by the United States and took place from June 19 to July 10, 1999, at ...

. 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 Excite Ballpark, previously known as San Jose Municipal Stadium or Muni Stadium, is a baseball park in San Jose, California. It is the home of the Minor League Baseball San Jose Giants, an affiliate of the San Francisco Giants. The team plays ...

, home of the San Jose Giants, the Low-A minor league baseball affiliate of the San Francisco Giants.

International soccer matches

Gallery

Image:SpStadium.jpg, Spartan Stadium, San Jose, California — 1933 File:Spartan Stadium Proposed Expansion.jpg, Proposed Expansion — 1960s Image:SS pan.jpg, Spartan Stadium – San Jose State vs. Boise State — 2008 Image:Spartanstadiumnight.jpg, Spartan Stadium – Aerial view at night — 2008 Image:Spartan stadium DSC0768-Edit.jpg, First season using new "FieldTurf" playing surface, San Jose State vs. Utah – 2009 Image:SJSU Marching Band performs at 2015 homecoming.jpg, The Spartan Stadium field in 2015 File:CEFCU Spartan Stadium.jpg, Aerial view from the southwest, 2017

References

External links

SJSU Spartans.com
– official athletics site {{Authority control College football venues 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup stadiums San Jose State Spartans football American football venues in California Soccer venues in California San Jose Earthquakes Defunct NCAA bowl game venues Former Major League Lacrosse venues Former Major League Soccer stadiums Sacramento Mountain Lions stadiums Sports venues completed in 1933 Sports venues in San Jose, California United Football League (2009–2012) venues North American Soccer League (1968–1984) stadiums 1933 establishments in California