Spartan Stadium (San Jose, California)

Not to be confused with Spartan Stadium (East Lansing).
Spartan Stadium
Location 1257 S 10th St, San José, CA 95112
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 José State University
Operator San José State University
Capacity 30,456[1] (2000–present)
31,218 (1985–1999)
18,155 (1948–1984)
11,000 (1937–1947)
8,500 (1936–1936)
4,000 (1933–1935)
Surface FieldTurf (2009–present)
Grass (1933–2008)
Construction
Broke ground 1933
Opened 1933
Expanded 1936–1937, 1948, 1985
Construction cost $1.5 million USD (expansion)
Tenants
San Jose State Spartans (MWC) (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)

Spartan Stadium, located in San Jose, California, is the official stadium of the San José State University Spartans athletics teams. It is currently the home of the Spartan football teams (soccer teams play at Spartan Soccer Field). In addition, the stadium hosts occasional high school football games, and the university commencement ceremony every year on Memorial Day weekend.[2]

Spartan Stadium was the home of the San Jose Earthquakes (originally San José 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.[3]

The stadium also received significant upgrades to the scoreboard and sound system in 2011.[4] This included installation of a high-definition video board (commonly called a JumboTron) by Daktronics at the south end of the stadium.[5]

Stadium history

Originally built in 1933 as a 4,000-seat facility, Spartan 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.

Spartan 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. Spartan 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 Spartan Stadium from 2000 to 2004.

Most recently, a Spartan Stadium end zone building addition is projected to commence in 2014-2015 and will cost approximately US$38 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 Spartan Stadium and is projected to be completed in 2016.[6]

Gallery

References

  1. 1 2 www.nmnathletics.com
  2. ↑ "Campus Grounds: South Campus". SJSU Athletics. Retrieved 2014.
  3. ↑ http://media.www.thespartandaily.com/media/storage/paper852/news/2008/09/15/Sports/Spartan.Stadium.To.Get.New.Playing.Surface.In.09-3431753.shtml
  4. ↑ "SJSU in the News: Spartan Stadium Upgrades Scoreboards, Sound System | SJSU News". Blogs.sjsu.edu. Retrieved 2012-12-03.
  5. ↑ "25 New College Football Systems". Daktronics.com. Retrieved 2012-12-03.
  6. ↑ "Spartan Stadium End Zone Building". San Jose State University. Retrieved October 16, 2013.

External links

Preceded by
first stadium		 Home of the
San Jose Earthquakes
1996 – 2005 		Succeeded by
Buck Shaw Stadium
2008-2014
Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum (big game venue)
2008-2009
Preceded by
Grant Field		 Host of the College Cup
1969 		Succeeded by
Ralph Korte Stadium
Preceded by
UNCG Soccer Stadium		 Host of the Women's College Cup
1999–2000 		Succeeded by
Gerald J. Ford Stadium
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