Oakland Coliseum Authority approves Roots and Soul to play 2025 home games at stadium
The teams are playing this season in Hayward, but will be in their hometown next year.
The Oakland Roots and Oakland Soul will play their home games next season within the city of Oakland.
The Oakland Coliseum Authority voted unanimously (6-0) Friday morning to approve hosting the soccer clubs’ home games at the Coliseum in 2025.
The Roots and Soul are playing this season at Pioneer Stadium in Hayward, where they also played last year in the Soul’s inaugural season after the Roots played their first four years at Laney College.
The Roots compete in the USL Championship, a second-division men’s league, while the Soul plays in the USL W League, a fourth-division pre-professional women’s league, but plans to join a new Division I league, the USL Super League, in 2025. The men’s team is playing a 34-game schedule this season, while the women’s team is playing 12 games.
It is unclear what impact, if any, the scheduling of soccer games will have on the city and Coliseum’s negotiations with the A’s to extend their lease beyond 2024 as they seek a relocation to Las Vegas, where their proposed stadium won’t open until 2028.
The A’s and Oakland officials met Thursday to discuss a potential lease extension and will meet again early next month, though the A’s have also met with officials from Sacramento and Salt Lake City.
The soccer teams and the stadium’s governing body must still negotiate on the specific terms of the agreement.