US Soccer MIGHT get a tropical home at the new Aloha Stadium in Hawaii, as the state’s governor says facility that’s set up to open in 2026 may target national team matches
The USA national teams could soon have another stadium to (sometimes) call home, as a new Aloha Stadium in Hawaii is aspiring to host soccer matches, according to the state’s governor.
A new version of the stadium, which previously hosted University of Hawaii football games and the NFL’s Pro Bowl, is slated to open in 2026, according to Front Office Sports.
And Governor Josh Green said earlier this week that the stadium could be used by children and high school students, and also for concerts, international rugby and US soccer, the The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported.
The original Aloha Stadium hosted the Hawaii football team from 1975 until 2020, when the Rainbow Warriors moved to Ching Field in anticipation of the construction.
They’ll return to the new Aloha Stadium when it’s complete.
US soccer could play games at a brand new Aloha Stadium in a few years’ time
The stadium project could include housing and an entertainment district as well
The stadium is slated to cost ‘under $500 million,’ according to Governor Josh Green
Meanwhile, neither the US men’s or women’s national soccer teams currently have a permanent home stadium.
The men played their last two games in Los Angeles, while the women recently played in Orlando, Nashville, and Frisco, Texas in the SheBelieves Cup.
Governor Green told reporters this week that the project was estimated to cost ‘under $500 million.’
That’s despite the fact that the stadium is reportedly downsizing from 50,000 to around 35,000.
The project could also include housing and an entertainment district, though those portions are currently up in the air according to the Star-Advertiser.
The original Aloha Stadium hosted Hawaii’s football team from 1975-2020
The US men’s team has previously played in some absolutely frigid temperatures
Nonetheless, the new Aloha Stadium would be an attractive destination for US soccer players and their opponents alike, and a welcome change from some previous US national team locales.
Last year, the men’s team played Honduras in St. Paul, Minnesota in five degrees Fahrenheit.
Honduran starters Luis Lopez and Romell Quioto were taken off at half-time, reportedly due to hypothermia, and their coach Hernan ‘Bolillo’ Gomez was not happy with the US scheduling a game there in February.
‘It is difficult, very complicated. Soccer is not for suffering like that,’ he said.
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