Cardinale Stadium is a

soccer-specific stadium A soccer-specific stadium, mainly in the United States and Canada, is 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-purpose stadium whic ...

on the campus of

California State University, Monterey Bay California State University, Monterey Bay (CSUMB or Cal State Monterey Bay) is a public university located in Monterey County, California, United States. The main campus is situated on the site of the former military base Fort Ord, spanning the ...

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

. It is the home of Monterey Bay F.C. of the

USL Championship The USL Championship (USLC) is a men's professional association football, soccer league in the second tier of the United States soccer league system#Men's leagues, United States league system. It is organized by the United Soccer League (USL) a ...

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 on 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, ...

. 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 Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West ...

and the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners and nicknamed the 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 ...

. 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. 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 in the 56th minute. In November 2023 the stadium hosted the 2023

California Collegiate Athletic Association The California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) is a List of NCAA conferences, college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the NCAA Division II, Division II level. All of its current m ...

Women's Soccer Championship, the first time CSUMB hosted the tournament in their two decades in the conference dating back to 2004. In March 2025 Monterey Bay FC and CSUMB announced a proposal for upgrades to the facilities in and around the stadium to allow the stadium to host more events. This includes permanent men's and women's locker rooms, which would allow for Monterey Bay to potentially field a team in one or both of the professional

USL Super League The USL Super League (USLS), officially known as the Gainbridge Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional women's soccer league and the highest level of the United States soccer league system, alongside the National Women's Socce ...

or pre-professional

USL W League The USL W League (USLW) is a Women's association football, women's soccer league in the United States. It began play in May 2022 and follows the USL W-League (1995–2015), USL W-League, a similar league that existed from 1995 to 2015. It is c ...

References

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