US Soccer MAY get a tropical home at Hawaii’s new Aloha Stadium as state governor says facility opening in 2026 may focus on national team games
The U.S. national teams could soon have another stadium to (sometimes) call home, as a new Aloha stadium in Hawaii aims to host football games, the state governor said.
A new version of the stadium, which previously hosted University of Hawaii football games and the NFL’s Pro Bowl, is expected to open in 2026. Front Office Sports reports this.
And Governor Josh Green said earlier this week that the stadium could be used by children and high school students, as well as for concerts, international rugby and American football, The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported.
The original Aloha Stadium hosted the Hawaiian soccer team from 1975 until 2020, when the Rainbow Warriors moved to Ching Field in anticipation of construction.
They will return to the new Aloha Stadium when it is finished.
American football could be playing games in a brand new Aloha Stadium in a few years
The stadium project could also include housing and an entertainment center
According to Governor Josh Green, the stadium will cost “less than $500 million.”
Meanwhile, neither the U.S. nor women’s national soccer teams currently have permanent home stadiums.
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 “less than $500 million.”
That’s despite the stadium reportedly being downsized from 50,000 to around 35,000.
The project could also include housing and an entertainment center, though those parts are currently up and running according to the Star-Advertiser.
The original Aloha Stadium hosted the Hawaiian soccer team from 1975 to 2020
The U.S. men’s team has previously played in absolutely freezing temperatures
Nevertheless, the new Aloha Stadium would be an attractive destination for American football players and their opponents alike, and a welcome change from some previous U.S. national team venues.
Last year, the Honduras men’s team played in St. Paul, Minnesota in five degrees Fahrenheit.
Honduran starters Luis Lopez and Romell Quioto were taken off the field at halftime, reportedly due to hypothermia, and their coach Hernan ‘Bolillo’ Gomez was unhappy that the U.S. had scheduled a game there in February.
“It’s hard, very complicated. Football is not for suffering like that,” he said.
