I have been attending SJS football games since 1971 and like most fans and alums we were pissed when we saw the plans for this renovation. The facility itself is amazing and it’s one of the best on the west coast of any school - G5 or P4. It’s just in the wrong location. The athletic department has said there’s room for seating in front of the building and it would add back around 5k seats to the stadium. Many of us advocated for the footprint of the building to be pushed back another ten or twenty feet so that a proper grandstand could be accommodated in front of the SAC. Unfortunately, our ideas were ignored. CFB in NorCal is a tough sell. Cal downsized their stadium by 14k seats ten years ago and Stanford’s renovation in 2007 reduced their capacity by 35k. SJS lopping off 1/3 of their seating is unfortunate but not surprising given the state of cfb as a spectator sport in the Bay Area
I completely agree!! The building itself is a jewel, and it was nice to see the school build a state of the facility for it’s players and people in the front office! HOWEVER, I was disappointed that they decided against putting in permanent sitting. Even if it was just small section of 15 rows or so, and put the athletic center above that, would’ve been at least something! And those 5K seats that were mentioned….exactly where do they plan on putting those, on TOP of the athletic center??? Smh!
@@greggyd4734 Nope. The seating will run from sideline to sideline and will come up to just below the window area in the center. Probably 15 rows at the most - maybe 20 if they go higher on either side of the windows between the endzone corners and the building.
I don't mean this as a knock against SJS and their dedicated fans, but I'm not sure people outside of the area understand the college football landscape in the bay area. Unless you're a student or alum, there is almost zero interest in attending college football games in this area and they'll never need to worry about hosting a bowl or kickoff game with Levi's just a few minutes away. That capacity is more than enough.
@@shaunnichols1743exactly this. I was there yesterday for their home opener against Oregon St. Even with the reduced capacity, it was MAYBE 2/3rds full with a good portion of those fans being from Oregon St. They announced a 20k attendance though 🤷♂️
I remember seeing SJSU games last year with the construction area in the background and pictured seats going in there. Saw the game the other day and thought "WTF is that?" Dick Vermeil seemed to like it I guess.
I’m pretty sure there are additional phases that include some seating. The Spartans are no joke in the mountain west. They come very long way in the last few years under Coach Brennen, and have a strong football history in the Pacific region.
SJSU football almost died in the 2000s so this upgrade is a frankly a triumph for the program. They won the MW title in 2020 and were a win away from a BCS bowl berth in 2012 under Mike MacIntyre (NIU got that berth b/c they were ranked higher). It’s always been in the shadows of Cal and Stanford but it has the biggest local alumni base of the three and recent campus development to move away from being primarily a commuter school hopefully will facilitate more attendance. It’s the flagship CSU and CA’s oldest public university. In many ways all the ingredients are there to have a successful mid-major program. That said, all sports have been suffering from lack of popularity in the Bay Area the last 10 years. Turns out nerdy tech people aren’t really into sports…
This is what people don’t understand about the Bay Area, nobody is from here anymore. People come & go from all over the world. Not a great recipe for nurturing college athletics interest. In the 80s the SJSU/Stanford game drew well over 60k. A different time. I miss those days.
@@HollywoodinSJ I’m old enough to remember seeing SJSU beat Stanford at the old Stanford Stadium in person. Glad to see they’ve restarted that matchup beginning in 2025. It is sad to see the deterioration of sports in the bay. The Niners will always draw and the Warriors are still hot but aside from that attendance and interest is noticeably down across all teams. Hopefully a cheap local Saturday CFB game is enough to get some SJSU students and grads out to spartan stadium in coming seasons.
You are correct. The changing demography of the SF Bay Area has been devastating to the attendance and interest in local college sports. People come from all over the world to live here and if they become football fans, they root for the 49ers instead of thinking about adopting one of the local universities athletic teams. I too remember those "Elway vs Elway" games in the early 1980's when SJS at Stanford drew in excess of 60k or even 70k fans. The local media is not helpful at all. Here's an example: on the Friday when it was announced that Stanford and Cal were going to the ACC, I tuned in the local #1 rated sports talk station (KNBR) to hear about the news. It rated all of 10 seconds on a sports update. The hosts didn't even talk about the importance of the change or why it was happening. When you're in that kind of a shitty environment for college sports, how do you get information or have your interest stoked? impossible.
@@HollywoodinSJ Aka everyone got gentrified into different parts of the bay or the valley and traffic makes it a whole other world to go see your favorite team play 😢. There's awesome talent in the bay too.
Though SJSU is indeed the oldest "Cal State" it is a big stretch to say it is the "flagship" of CSU system...indeed, there really is NOT a flagship. It is not like UC system where Cal and UCLA are consensus top dogs. More to the point. You are right in that Bay Area spectator sports are not thriving. Too many nerdy types, but also the transient nature of the populace, lots of people from other cultural backgrounds where sports attending is not a tradition, and the rich Tech Bros only care about the 49ers or Warriors because of the social cachet. Even Stanford sports don't have that clout. Thirdly...SJSU really botched this redesign. Might as well have just built an IKEA, it would be more attractive (and draw more people). Don't see how a few rows of bleachers that might get built in the future will rescue this. They should have put the press box on that side so the cameras at least show something that looks like a stadium.
I literally grew up in this stadium. Went to my first game at one month old. Spent 40 years going to Spartan, Quakes, Concerts and other events. I have no words for how angry I am with this renovation. Completely butchered an amazing venue. I had to stop watching cause I got so mad. It’s a building, I know, but it’s also a special place for many people. I hope those responsible find their way to the exit!
When it comes to this stadium before the renovations, it was also the home of the SJ Earthquakes of MLS from 1996-2005 before they were relocated to Houston because the league felt the stadium was outdated & the city refused to finance the building of a new soccer specfic stadium. To this day, it is the only relocation in MLS history. San Jose was then given an expansion team in 2008 and was able to keep the Earthquakes colors & history as part of it. This new Earthquakes team was going to play here but decided at the last minute to play matches at Buck Shaw Stadium at Santa Clara because they were more likely to sell out there. They played at Buck Shaw Stadium until 2015 when PayPal Park opened.
As a guy who appreciates context, I like reading informative comments like this. I’ll admit I don’t know a thing about the MLS, but stadium histories are almost always interesting, and given the subject of the video, I’d say most of us watching are interested in them. It’s always good when gaps in information are filled in.
A lot of MLS teams when they first started played at football (either NFL or NCAA) stadiums. For example, the LA Galaxy (my team) played at the Rose Bowl (home of the UCLA) before moving to the StubHub Center (one of the first soccer specific stadiums).
I noticed that when watching the game. I was like "are there no stands over there?" It made for a boring watch with little crowd noise. It felt like I was watching highschool football on tv.
Although the renovations are unorthodox, SJSU should be given credit for trying to make FBS football and athletics work. Reducing stadium capacity and having a promenade area for people to congregate should create a better fan experience. It will create a more intimate atmosphere and provide a place for fans to just "hang-out." In Philadelphia, "Andy Ashburn Way" at Citizens Bank Ball Park serves a similar purpose as the new east sidelines at CEFCU Stadium. Some Phillies fans just enjoy grabbing a bite, getting something to drink, and watching the game while standing. The Bay Area is a location where people have many things to do and many interests to pursue on an autumn weekend, at least SJSU is offering something different. The university could have easily said that FBS football is not worth the money and move all sports to the Big West Conference.
the building is great, for sure, but you're right, aesthetically speaking, no seating there looks lame. It could be an easy fix adding some seating between the building and field
The point is most people in Nor Cal don't care about college sports and in general isn't really a Sporty town/area. You will find most people drinking coffee, talking about their work, where they went on vacation, anything except who won the game last night. Even the 49ers games when they were terrible, struggled to get even a few 100s of people in there. The Bay Area fans will attend Warriors or Giants games but college FB? Its not really something people like paying for and thats really sad.
You forgot about Fresno State. It's pretty much the only place in Northern California that’s crazy about their college football team. They get a lot of crowds for their home games. Since the Fresno area doesn’t have any pro teams, Fresno State is the only game in town.
Hey buddy. Slow your roll on CEFCU Stadium. The Eastside of the stadium will eventually have seating once the funds become available. The grass area will open once the sod sets in. Folks will be able to bring their lounge chairs and blankets and kick it. It may appear strange, but in person it looks really cool. There have been a lot of talk about the Eastside not having seats because that is the side of the stadium that is shown when televised. It will be that way until funds can be raised. San Jose State is relevant because it sits in one of the nations top media markets in the middle of Silicon Valley (High Tech).
most people watching college football don't even know what SJSU is. SJSU is not relevant in the media market lol, hell Cal and Stanford have a hard enough time getting viewership and attendance at their games.
SJSU has been bleating for decades about the size of its media market and the Silicon Valley. The tech bros don't even care about Stanford football, they are not going to acknowledge SJSU exists. Same with their employees. This will never turn around for SJSU. Only 6 of 20 or so Cal States still have football, because it costs a fortune and there is just too little support. to justify the expenses. Time for all them to cut their losses and face the future. Only Fresno State seems to make football work. They are the last Cal State in a metro area that is not dominated by pro sports.
It’s actually an amazing building. It’s literally a state of the art training facility with meeting rooms, auditoriums, suites the whole nine yards. Let me tell you San Jose state wasn’t filing 30,000 seats anytime soon this will pay dividends for their athletic programs despite how ridiculous it looks
You missed the craziest part about Vandy. You have to enter the East Side through the back halls of the basketball arena. At the end of the game you exit through a 10’ opening on to the warning track of the baseball stadium and walk all the way around the field. I have pictures if you want to do a video specific to that. It’s crazy.
I went to the game today and when I got there I was wondering where the hell half of the stadium was. There was also an overwhelming amount of OSU fans and we lost by a blowout. How embarrassing
Bad coaching as usual. SJS is paying a lot of money for mediocrity at the G5 level. The money they are paying that HC is what you pay to win 9-10-11 games a year, not 5-7. I am very hopeful that the new AD feels the same way.
This kinda stuff is in the DNA of San Jose itself. No NFL, NBA or major league baseball teams ever, and yet has had the population to support a major league team since the 1970s. Soccer and hockey? Whatever. Or how 'bout culture? SF and Oakland get it all. San Jose is such a bad brand that when computers went through the roof, nationally and globally, the term that circulated was Silicon Valley, not San Jose. All of the bad stuff that comes with having a lot of people, but almost none of the good stuff.
Bay Area "culture" says ignore college football. Levi's Stadium where the 49ers play is pretty mediocre too. The only good stadium in the entire bay area is Oracle Park in SF where the baseball Giants play. Every other facility is pretty mediocre. It must be in the DNA of the bay area to have bad facilities and to be proud of the mindset.
Went to alot of Earthquake games there. I always thought the seats on that side of the stadium is what gave it most of its charm along with the roman style pillar railing that went all around the pitch. Great memories and seeing this is just a travesty. 😥
She was but not for that. This happened during the regime of a female AD who ran a massive cover-up for a sports trainer who was accused (& found guilty) of sexually assaulting female athletes - doing all sorts of nasty things to them when he was supposed to be treating their injuries etc. The fact that the AD would side with the employee against the student-athletes for whose welfare she was charged to protect was unconscionable.
Changes were absolutely needed. By far the worst stadium I’ve ever been to. There were no concourses. To get around the old stadium you walk over other fans (if there were any) or you go up to the one walkway. Leaving the stadium we literally just walked down onto the field with the players and out the end zone gates with the team gear personnel. Very safe. If you dropped anything it would roll down the hill under the benches and you’d never see it again. A grassy knoll is an upgrade. Trust me.
Just because they had 30k capacity didn't mean they came close to that. Fewer seats,raise prices,people will fork out more......simple economics. Maximize profits. It's not like the school paid for renovations,most of it was from Donations more than likely then the rest from the State.
They need to fill that space up with something : stripper poles , a pool like at Chase Field , a mechanical bull , a mini-golf course... Just go full-blown bizarre.
Looks like there might be room to add seating above the new facility. Look at the lack of HVAC equipment on the roof towards the field. There were no folks sitting on the grass, as depicted in the rendering, but that may change for the AFA game.
This is why SJSU and Hawaii's stadium situations should have them left out/behind when the Pac-2 brings in the majority of the Mountain West teams, plus Memphis, Tulane, and Rice.
I have been here on a few occasions for games. I waited to see what the renovation would look like. I was expecting stands and suites etc. was surprised to see a side of a D1 school with absolutely No stands. Interesting concept. Usually this would be in an end zone. Well at least it’s different.
This will be one of the more successful and financially smart renovations in recent memory. Does it put a ceiling on their football capacity? Yes. But SJSU will NEVER bring 30K to a football game. Forget the grass berm..colleges need to start putting themselves into the correct capacity and expense levels, particularly with realignment happening. Looking at Oregon St. They had a Massive renovation and expansion. Only to have their athletic budget reduced by 2/3rds.
Oregon state actually reduced capacity with their renovation as well and the renovations at osu are for other activities at the university for year round. I get what you're saying but they could of made this much more appealing than this final product. The idea of the building is great but they could of made this much better.
"SJSU will NEVER bring 30K to a football game" It's the same story for Bay Area college football teams: Cal and Stanford reduced their sitting capacity 10-15 years ago. Tl;dr: High income, High IQ, Great weather, and college football--you can only choose 3.
This is indicative of the kind of insanity that rules college football today. So apparently the only space on campus for this new center was at the 50-yard line of the football stadium? Brilliant! One thing is clear: the fans come last!
Purdue football season ticket holder here, yeah the new renovation was for the student section. They sent us out newsletters and such about the renovations being done. Above the Tunnell they have luxury seats that people can pay extra for and you get to sit next to the Boilermaker Special.
I was at the OSU v SJSU game today. I’m a Beaver and drove down from Oregon. If you take a look at Reser Stadium in Corvallis and then compare Spartan Stadium, there would be no person with an IQ in double digits that would say Oregon State belongs in the MWC - stadium, athletic facilities, quality of athletic department and current state of the football program. Oregon State is a Power program any way you slice it. Screw the networks and who is considered a “quality brand” or network draw. Having said that, OSU will have eyes on them this year. Believe that!
Yeah but that’s SJSU… they are the bottom of the barrel mtn west team and I wouldn’t be judging the mountain west off of them. Obviously this new stadium looks awful. There are others whose facilities and athletic success match oregon states. There are even several programs in the mountain west with more football success in the last 20 years. Oregon state and wazzu could easily be mountain west schools.
I was at the SJSU-Oregon State game, I will say the facility is beautiful and really cool. It does make the rest of the almost only bleachers stadium feel dated, the concessions are bad, and they put the band on the other side of the field from the student section. Just a strange place.
I just joined the band this year and apparently we used to play in the other corner of the stands near the students. It wasn't explained to me why we moved. I think part of it might be the fact that the new building gives us a flat surface for our sound to reflect off of back onto the stands, and the corner we're in now is much closer to the ramp. I don't know for sure.
Makes me feel like Cal Poly should be in the FBS instead of SJSU. Let's see if Poly w/ Sam Huard, former 5star QB, can make a splash whipping the Spartans this weekend.
I saw it on tv. 😮. Looked like a JC school. Div I schools are rated by their size of stadium. I thought the minimum ticket sales were 28,000. So how do they still qualify for Div 1 ???
I don't believe the rules on stadium size are in effect any longer. If the rule on averaging 15,000 fans is still in effect, school (like SJSU) just lie about their attendance. (UCLA notoriously "exaggerates" greatly as well.)
I went to SJSU in early ‘80s and it went from 18,000 to 32,500 I believe. Very bizarre. I agree they should put seats in that grass area to get that filled in feel. Maybe they will. But if you want to move up the proverbial college football ladder, this isn’t how you do it.
Looks like there is enough room to add seating up to that new building. That open level will be part of a concourse behind future stands. What you see now is not the final project.
They had to have run out of money. There is no way anyone would think it’s a good idea to leave that as a grassy area. It would have been better if they planted trees or something, really anything else.
@@SJSUDuck 10 million short does explain it. If I was designing it I’d put a nice pathway in the middle leading up to the athletic building and surround it with Douglas firs. Trees surrounding stadiums is always a nice look
San Jose is more spread out than say Berkeley, but SJSU is still an urban campus so it makes sense they would want to pack as much office/multi-use into the stadium as possible. I would be curious if they had to consider seismic concerns in the design choices as well
There were no seismic concerns whatsoever. SJS has a bifurcated campus. The academic buildings and classrooms are located about 1.5 miles away in downtown San Jose. The south campus is where all of the facilities for outdoor athletics are located. At one time (pre-1920's) the state college system owned all of the land between the main and south campuses. Unfortunately, the state could not see a reason to hold onto that land and with the insistence of the City of San Jose who wanted all of that land for housing and business, the extra campus land was sold off piecemeal to developers throughout the 1920's and 1930's.
Wrong. Student seating section traditionally ran from the 50 yard line on the east side of the stadium to the south sideline reaching the goal line but not including the end zone. Prior to a 1980 renovation there was a small set of bleachers that held about 500 located in the south end zone. There was no seating in the north end zone as there was an access ramp directly in the middle for players and vehicles to gain access to the field.
For goodness sake, right at the start you said SJSU was on a multi year multi part renovation. What makes you think you are looking at the finished product? There was much dirt and construction area around that side of the field that let me think they are going to add some low stands on that side of the field. Perhaps next summer so they do not look like a construction project like you said Vanderbilt is going through this football season. Seriously, start doing some research into these videos. Just a cursory review stated that they are still working on how many seats they want to return to the East side of the stadium.
Sjsu looked better than the numbers showed. Their quarterback wasn't bad either. Hell there wasn't an interception the entire game on both sides. That's a first as a beavers fan
The stands on that side we're actually condemned. I think was either a fault line or something like that. So they had to put the grass there to stabilize the ground in order to build that building.
Nothing was condemned. Your confusing SJS with Cal. At UC Berkeley, the fault of the San Andreas earthquake fault runs directly through the stadium. A previous SJS AD (who's since been fired) was responsible for the site placement of the new building.
Welcome to the California State University way of doing things. The CSU system got rid of football programs at Long Beach State and Cal State Fullerton. It's a shame CA college administrators got rid of football and blamed it on Title IX. Lack of vision or courage or both on display. A natural league could have been maintained with Cal State Fullerton, Long Beach State, San Jose State, Santa Clara, St Mary's, University of Pacific, USD, Cal Poly SLO, UC Davis, Sacramento State, etc. It's as if athletes are the wrong kind of men they want attending their schools.
Played soccer and football at Fullerton for highschool and jc football. Csf stadium is bigger then this one haha. Never saw LB states stadium and there's no pictures of it
The motivation is primarily capitalism at work--if the football programs at any of those schools remotely came close to making money or had a reasonable chance of doing so, the sport would have stayed. Pouring more money as "investments" did not work then and won't now. The interest is just not there. Had there been, the football boosters at those schools would have been able to fend off any attacks.
@@SunnyCue-ew5ow Long Beach State's stadium I believe still exists...Long Beach Veterans Stadium, maybe 17,000 capacity. Mostly high school games. LBSU also played at Anaheim Stadium (!) when they got overly ambitious and hoped to get big crowds.
@@bp2608 ahh I c. Funny I just drove by few hours ago. They should of just made stadiums like FIU. Small but all the way around. Kinda like MLS stadiums where every seat is close. The uc san Diego looks coo but hella small for a D1.
Public institutions suck. Students are saddled with suffocating debt that they apparently can't earn enough to pay back, part of this debt either funds or enables these ridiculous and frivolous vanity projects. Hopefully most or all of the money for the building project was donated.
