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Strawberry Canyon

California Memorial Stadium

California Memorial Stadium in Berkeley, CA, home of California. Capacity 62,467. Opened 1923-11-24.

California Memorial Stadium in Berkeley, CA
California Memorial Stadium, Berkeley, CAPhoto: Quintin Soloviev, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Capacity
62,467
Opened
1923
Surface
FieldTurf
Roof
Open air
Elevation
411 ft
Home team
California
California here
90–⁠64 games on file since 2001
College GameDay
once
National Register
2006

Since it opened: California is 376–⁠255–⁠17 in home games from the 1923 season on. Our source names a game’s stadium only from 2001, so that count takes every earlier home game not marked neutral and may include a few played elsewhere.

Biggest games here

From the games on file here, 2001 on: title and postseason games, meetings of two ranked teams, upsets by our pregame Elo ratings and the biggest swings in CollegeFootballData.com’s excitement index.

Crowds season by season

Average and biggest crowd at California Memorial Stadium by season, 2001 to 202620k40k60k80k2001: 33,443 a game over 6 games; biggest 38,1602002: 37,103 a game over 7 games; biggest 71,2242003: 38,305 a game over 6 games; biggest 51,2082004: 63,968 a game over 6 games; biggest 72,9812005: 60,377 a game over 6 games; biggest 72,9812006: 64,318 a game over 7 games; biggest 72,5162007: 63,136 a game over 6 games; biggest 72,5162008: 61,634 a game over 7 games; biggest 70,0862009: 59,472 a game over 6 games; biggest 71,7992010: 57,873 a game over 7 games; biggest 67,7932012: 55,876 a game over 7 games; biggest 63,1862013: 49,329 a game over 7 games; biggest 62,4672014: 47,669 a game over 6 games; biggest 56,4832015: 48,800 a game over 6 games; biggest 60,6062016: 46,628 a game over 6 games; biggest 52,2662017: 36,548 a game over 6 games; biggest 46,7472018: 42,866 a game over 7 games; biggest 57,8572019: 42,433 a game over 6 games; biggest 47,5322021: 37,383 a game over 6 games; biggest 42,0762022: 38,596 a game over 7 games; biggest 51,8922023: 38,684 a game over 6 games; biggest 44,1412024: 39,173 a game over 7 games; biggest 52,4282025: 34,991 a game over 6 games; biggest 42,2402026: 43,346 a game over 3 games; biggest 54,28320012006201620212026

Biggest crowds on file

72,981USC at California2005
72,981Stanford at California2004
72,516USC at California2007
72,516Tennessee at California2007
72,516Stanford at California2006

Bars are each season’s average crowd, dots its biggest (the record in orange), the dashed rule today’s capacity. Attendance is on file for most games from 2001 on.

College GameDay here

ESPN’s College GameDay has broadcast from California Memorial Stadium once, first in 2024.

Oct 5, 2024Miami 39, California 38Memorial Glade

College GameDay’s sites from Wikipedia’s list of College GameDay locations (CC BY-SA).

Weather on game day

Coldest kickoffs

Hottest kickoffs

Coldest game days before 2004

Hottest game days before 2004

Kickoffs: the NOAA report nearest kickoff from the closest weather station (NOAA NCEI Integrated Surface Database). Game days: the day’s high and snowfall at the NOAA station nearest the stadium, for California’s home games before 2004 (NOAA GHCN-Daily, public domain).

The stadium’s history

Also known as
California Memorial Stadium
Strawberry Canyon
Opened
1923-11-24
Architect
John Galen Howard
Baker & Carpenter
George E. Cunningham
Surface over the years
FieldTurf (2017–present)
Matrix Turf (2012–⁠2017)
Momentum Turf (2003–⁠2010)
Grass (1995–⁠2002)
AstroTurf (1981–⁠1994)
Grass (1923–⁠1980)

From the stadium’s Wikipedia article, California Memorial Stadium.

From above

50 mN ↑
The stadium’s footprint, north up: about 220 by 220 meters (710 by 720 feet), the field in green. Outline from OpenStreetMap, © OpenStreetMap contributors.

On the National Register

Listed
November 27, 2006
Reference
No. 06001086 The nomination

National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service; nominations in the National Archives catalog.

Recent games here

Oct 17, 202621Wake Forest 41, California 7
Oct 10, 2026California 25, Virginia Tech 20
Sep 25, 2026Clemson 24, California 10
Sep 19, 2026California 49, Wagner 7
Sep 5, 2026UCLA 45, California 24
Nov 29, 2025California 38, 25SMU 35
Nov 1, 202515Virginia 31, California 21
Oct 17, 2025California 21, North Carolina 18
Oct 4, 2025Duke 45, California 21
Sep 13, 2025California 27, Minnesota 14
Sep 6, 2025California 35, Texas Southern 3
Nov 23, 2024California 24, Stanford 21

Around the stadium

Beer sales
Sold to all fans · Official source

Found by several AI researchers searching the web, then kept only where the page loads and says so in words naming the program; every quote is checked again each time the data is rebuilt. Official source: the school’s own page. All of them.

Pouring rights

PepsiCo has the stadium’s soft-drink pouring rights, on record since 2023. Official source.