The Oakland Coliseum will have a new home team next year: Oakland Roots Sports Club will play its United Soccer League Championship games at the historic stadium during the 2025 season.
The Roots are making a $3 million commitment to playing 17 home games at the Coliseum. Their one-year lease brings the home-grown team back for the first time since 2022. The team currently plays its home games at Cal State East Bay's sports complex in Hayward.
"The coliseum deserves pro-sports, Oakland deserves pro-sports and with the 2026 FIFA men’s world cup and soccer growing faster anytime in the history of the United States, this is an opportunity for Oakland to reestablish itself as the leading sports town we all know it is,” Oakland Roots President, Lindsay Barenz said.
The Roots are slated to begin playing at an interim stadium at the Malibu Lot, next door to the Coliseum, for up to 10 seasons starting in 2026. Oakland Soul FC, a USL women's team, also will play at the site when that stadium's construction is completed.
The Roots say their goals for their new space include plans to lease 15,000 of the stadium's 60,000 seats.
While the team currently averages 4,000 fans a game, they expect those numbers to grow with their home games back in "The Town."
Sports
“It's so much more accessible, we have a lot more room to accommodate a lot more of our fans and also to offer premium options which is something we haven’t had access to at our other venues,” Barenz said.
The agreement keeps the space occupied and some workers and vendors employed as the A's head to Sacramento next season.
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“This is going to save jobs so those who have been vendors at the Coliseum, they will continue to have their jobs,” Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao said. “All of those tax dollars will come back to the city of Oakland. Right now, the Oakland Roots are in Hayward. Having the full fan base to come back here we will be able to realize those dollars. And again, that is just the very beginning.”
The Roots currently are in playoff contention at 11-10-2, tied for second place in the Western Conference with 35 points. They have 11 matches left to play in the 2024 regular season.
