Professional Sports Comes to Santa Clara, no not the 49ers yet, but the MLS expansion team the San Jose Earthquakes

The San Jose Earthquakes MLS expansion team will play home games at Santa Clara University’s (SCU) Buck Shaw Stadium for the 2008 and 2009 seasons with an option for 2010. As part of their agreement with SCU, the Earthquakes will make upgrades to Buck Shaw Stadium, including adding 5,000 temporary seats which will increase the stadium’s capacity to 12,000 seats, reconfiguring lights specifically for soccer, and installing a portable state-of-the-art digital video board.

The Earthquakes will begin playing in April 2008. Besides serving as home for the SCU men’s and women’s soccer teams, Buck Shaw Stadium was home to Santa Clara football until 1992 and baseball until 2005. The stadium also served as a practice site for the Brazilian and Romanian National Teams during the 1994 FIFA World Cup.