The tarp is coming off at California Memorial Stadium, and Cal is treating that move like more than a simple seating adjustment.
For the Bears’ Sept. 5 opener against UCLA, the south end zone tarp will be removed, pushing stadium capacity from 52,428 to 62,467. That opens the door for a bigger crowd in a game Cal officials already believed could have sold out at the lower number.
With the extra 10,000 seats, it still may be a sellout. General manager Ron Rivera said seating without the tarp would get close to 70,000, though that likely would require standing-room admission.
It’s not the first time Cal has done this. The last occasion came in 2015 against Grambling State, when the Tigers’ band helped draw 60,606 fans to a game Cal won 73-14. Cal left the tarp in place for the 2024 game against eighth-ranked Miami, even though ESPN GameDay was on campus that morning and the Bears could have drawn more than the 52,428-capacity crowd.
But the bigger message here is what the tarp’s removal says about the temperature around Cal football under new head coach Tosh Lupoi. The Bears averaged 34,991 at home last season, which ranked 13th in the ACC. They have not averaged more than 40,000 since 2021, and the last time they were above 50,000 was 2012, the first year Memorial Stadium reopened after the retrofit project shut it down for two seasons.
Cal’s high-water mark in the modern era came in 2006, when it averaged 64,318 at home during the peak of the Jeff Tedford era, before the renovation reduced capacity.
Rivera said Wednesday that the plan is to keep the tarp off for all seven home games this season.
"That's the plan," Rivera said. "One of the things that have been really good for us is to have a marquee game."
That schedule does include several draws. Along with UCLA, Cal has a Friday night home game against Clemson on Sept. 25 that will be televised by ESPN, and the Bears will host Stanford in the Big Game on Nov.
- UCLA also brings back a familiar rivalry with Cal’s UC sister school after the Bruins moved to the Big Ten in 2024.
The real test, though, comes beyond the headline matchups. Cal’s third game, and second home game, is against Wagner, an FCS opponent not expected to provide much resistance. If the tarp stays off and the Bears still pull a strong crowd for that one, it would suggest the interest is in Cal football itself, not just in a premium opponent.
How that game looks could depend on what happens before it. Cal opens with UCLA and then goes on the road for an ACC game at Syracuse, so a 2-0 start would likely give the Wagner crowd a different feel than an 0-2 start.
"When you can fill the stadium up, and have that consistent week after week, you know, first of all, you're creating another revenue source that will really help benefit the program," Rivera said. ". . .. If we can keep those tarps off all year, that doesn't just impact football, it impacts the entire athletic department."
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