Tarp Coming Off at Cal's Stadium to Accommodate Larger Crowd

Cal expanding seating capacity for opener against UCLA and possibly other home games

Cal general manager Ron Rivera | Photo by Jake Curtis

The tarp is coming off, which is a bigger deal than it may seem..

Taking the tarp off at Cal's Memorial Stadium to accommodate greater ticket demand for the Bears' September 5 opener against UCLA is significant in both a practical and symbolic sense

First of all, removing the tarp in the south end zone expands capacity at Cal's stadium from 52,428 to 62,467, and that allows more people who want to witness the game. Cal officials expected the UCLA game on a Saturday night to be a sellout if the capacity were 52,428, and it might even be a sellout with the extra 10,000 seats. (General manager Ron Rivera said capacity seating without the tarp would approach 70,000, although that might not be possible unless standing-room admission is allowed.)

The last time Cal took the tarp off was the 2015 opener against Grambling State, whose band helped draw 60,606 people to the game that Cal won 73-14. The Bears did not remove the tarp for the 2024 game against eighth-ranked Miami, although Cal could have had more than the 52,428 capacity crowd if it had removed the tarp after having ESPN GameDay on the Cal campus that morning.

However, the symbolic implication may be more important, because it indicates a noticeable rise in interest in Cal football with new head coach Tosh Lupoi in charge. The Bears averaged 34,991 in home attendance last season, when they ranked 13th in the ACC in attendance. Cal has not averaged more than 40,000 since 2021, and the last time the Bears averaged better than 50,000 was 2012, which was the first year Memorial Stadium was re-opened after the retrofit project closed it for two years.

Cal recorded a modern school record for home attendance when it averaged 64,318 in 2006, which was at the peak of the Jeff Tedford era and before the renovation shrank capacity.

The Tarps are coming OFF 📣

You asked, we answered. Let’s pack California Memorial Stadium all season long!

🎟️ For a limited time this week, seats in sections LL & N are $43! Sale ends Friday at 5 pm ➡️ https://t.co/zIwd1b7dl9 pic.twitter.com/R2XryEVW5M

— Cal Athletics (@CalAthletics) August 25, 2026

Perhaps as significant as taking the tarp off for the opener is Rivera's statement on Wednesday that Cal plans to have 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."

In fact, Cal has three marquee home games in 2026. Besides the game against UCLA, which will renew a popular rivalry with Cal's University of California sister school after the Bruins left for the Big Ten in 2024, Cal will also play a Friday night home game against perennial powerhouse Clemson that will be televised by ESPN on September 25, and will host Stanford in the Big Game on November 21.

The bigger question, though, is how Cal will draw in the other four home games.

The measuring stick will be Cal's third game, which is its second home game, against Wagner, an FCS school not expected to be much of a challenge. If Cal keeps the tarp off and draws a sizable crowd for that game, it indicates the interest is in Cal football, not just in a particular attractive matchup.

Attendance in that Wagner game may depend on how Cal performs in its first two games against UCLA and ACC foe Syracuse on the road. Cal can expect a bigger crowd for the Wagner game if it enters that contest with a 2-0 record rather than with an 0-2 mark.

"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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