Earthquakes-Man U match moved to Avaya Stadium

The San Jose Earthquakes July 21 clash with english giant Manchester United has been moved from its planned location at UC Berkeley’s Memorial Stadium to San Jose’s new state-of-the-art Avaya Stadium, according to a statement from Cal Athletics.

Wesley Mallette, Associate AD/Strategic Communications for Cal Athletics, said tournament organizer Relevant Sports notified the university of the change:

“We were informed that the change in venue was made in order to better meet Manchester United’s travel and logistical requirements.”

The statement went on to say that those who already purchased tickets will be fully refunded in the next 5-7 days and that Relevant Sports will be granting those who purchased tickets for the game at Memorial with a special presale opportunity for the game at Avaya.

The game is one of three International Champions Cup matches to take place in the Bay Area this summer, the most in the three-year history of the tournament that features some of the world’s most popular clubs.

The Quakes are scheduled to face Club America of Mexico City on July 14 at Avaya Stadium and Manchester United is playing FC Barcelona on July 25 at Levi’s Stadium.

The matchup between Manchester United and San Jose was initially announced without a venue, as promoters wanted to wait to see how quickly the first two matches sold out to determine what size stadium could be filled.

Both quickly sold out, leading promoters to assume interest was high enough to hold the Earthquakes-Manchester United match at Memorial Stadium, where 62,467 seats sold out its 62,467 seats for last year’s Inter Milan-Real Madrid match.

Lack of ticket sales has not been mentioned by either Relevant Sports or the San Jose Earthquakes as a reason for the change of venue.