Photos

California Memorial Stadium is on the grounds of the University of California, Berkeley. It seats almost 72,000, which makes it the largest capacity (US) football stadium in Northern California.

Here is some information about the stadium quoted from the UC Berkeley website:
"... the setting of Memorial Stadium remains one of the most breathtaking sights in all of college athletics. The plush wall of pine trees in the Berkeley Hills to the east is contrasted by a panoramic view of the San Francisco Bay and three bridges to the west.

"Designed by world-renowned architect John Galen Howard and co-designers G.F. Buckingham and E.E. Carpenter, the stadium is a tribute to their architectural talents - skills that were years ahead of their time. Fans who attend games today still marvel at the beauty of the structure, modeled after the Coliseum in Rome, and comment about the easy viewing for spectators from all angles within the stadium."

A few interesting details are worth noting.

First, the stadium directly on an earthquake fault, the Hayward Fault. Here's what a Wikipedia article says about the fault and the stadium:
"Further north the fault passes under the lengthwise midline of the football field of California Memorial Stadium at the University of California, Berkeley. Fault creep since 1923 has offset the walls at the north and south ends 13 inches (33 cm). There are no plans at this time to replace the stadium in its entirety at a more appropriate location, even though its "O" shape may possibly be split into two "C"s. A suitable site for a replacement is available immediately to the east in Wildcat Canyon, although this would require an east-west alignment rather than the traditional north-south orientation. While there is only a small probability of an earthquake on this fault while the stadium is occupied, the results could be deadly."

Second, renovations of the facility, now underway, were preceded by a lengthy tree-sit in protest that about 25 oak trees were to be cut down. Also, from Wikipedia: "In 2006, 2007, and 2008, protesters in Berkeley, California sat in coast live oak trees to prevent the construction of a new sports facility by the University of California, Berkeley. On September 5, 2008, the University began logging the grove, after winning court agreement. Four days later, after a little more than 21 months, the final four tree sitters surrendered to authorities, ending the longest running urban tree-sit in history."

The stadium is used for football games only about 6 times per year.

Sometimes, people use the empty stadium for exercise. Like this one young woman depicted here.