USL President Jake Edwards talks stadium development in cities that aren't Oakland

 By Jonathan Comeaux

While speaking on The Striker Tejas Podcast, USL President Jake Edwards had some interesting thoughts that Oakland Roots' supporters may find intriguing; the league has invested $2 billion in stadium development and wants to assure each organization is up to professional soccer standards. 

“Over the last few years, we’ve built 22 soccer-specific stadiums across the country. That’s a great achievement, but we need to do more. We have about $2 billion invested in stadium development projects across the U.S. It is absolutely critical that we capitalize on the momentum behind the sport right now all the way through the World Cup and beyond. We want our clubs to be as successful and sustainable as possible and you need the right stadium to make that happen," said Edwards.

The Oakland Roots have gone through growing pains more akin to shots at the knee; having its June 19 match with the Sacramento Republic postponed minutes prior to kickoff. The Oakland Roots have taken a lot of embarrassment on the matter, while the league input has been nominal as of late. 

The club has now moved seven of its sixteen home matches to a smaller venue since June 19, Las Positas College 30-miles inland in Livermore--downsizing from 5,500 seats to 1,200 with constructed bleachers and a hillside--not exactly a model of development harped on by Edwards. 

The Roots' two costlier options aside from Las Positas were Cal's Edwards Stadium in Berkeley and the Oakland Coliseum. The Coliseum, according to our source at the club, would be way too expensive for sustainability while Cal is unavailable for professional sports team activities.

As for that $2 billion in investments, the club was never offered any USL assistance towards a larger and more logical temporary home at either the Oakland Coliseum, Edwards, or other sites like Cal State East Bay's Pioneer Stadium.  

"As every league evolves, you raise your level every year. What was an acceptable size stadium and business model 5-6 years ago, is not now and isn’t going to be 5 years from now. What we’re trying to do is make sure all of our teams are thinking long-term and preparing for the growth that is coming and is happening as we speak. You will see more of those size of scale stadiums; 7,500, then 12,000; 15,000 and above in the USL moving forward. That is something we’re very much focused on as well," said Edwards, pointing out stadium growth. 

“Ultimately, it also feeds itself. You’ve got to have the right stadiums, with the right optics of the stadium with the fans in the building to have a compelling broadcast," he closed.

Only nine matches at Laney College is an undoubted hit to the club's financials, which before June 19 wasn't a concern in the slightest around Oakland. The Roots sold out each of its home matches while in NISA and had a capacity of 3,000 ready for Sac.

With the USL heralding its $2 billion investment figure, what league efforts made sure Laney was ready for its 2021 season?

When accounting for lost ticket sales of seven sold-out crowds (per standard at Laney), merchandise, ad revenue, etc; it's an easy read that the numbers are stacking high in lost revenue for the first-year USL Championship side.

This writer has strong reason to believe--even in theory--that Edwards, the USL office, and USL Players' Association were aware prior to June 19 of the Oakland Roots' field and that it was less-than-ideal.

OaklandRootsBlog reached out to the USL Headquarters and USL Players' Association regarding the league's awareness of the field situation, but they have not returned comments.