Oakland Raiders Black Hole Cal Football
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Nick Roach celebrates with the Black Hole at the end of a game against the 49ers on December 7, 2014 in Oakland, California.
On Wednesday September 2, 2025, college football insider Pete Thamel cited sources who are telling him that Cal Football has created a new section in the south end of California Memorial Stadium for the old Oakland Raiders Black Hole cheering section.
Sources: Cal football has created a new section in the south end zone of its stadium for The Black Hole, the famed Raiders cheering section. They are calling it The Black Bear. They will welcome the group starting this weekend for the Texas Southern game. pic.twitter.com/ZvkZE38sQj
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) September 3, 2025
The section will be called “The Black Bear”. Cal Football will welcome “The Black Hole” members to sit in the new section beginning this Saturday in their home game against Texas Southern.
Cal’s installation of a Black Hole-esque cheering section seems like an attempt to lure Bay Area football fans who were hurt by the Raiders’ move to Las Vegas to instead come cheer for Cal.
The Black Hole History
The Black Hole started back in 1995 with a friend group from Hayward, California that would sit in Section 105 of the Oakland Coliseum and dress in black from head to toe.
It was inspired by the Cleveland Browns’ Dog Pound cheering section.
It has grown into an established organization that throws parties, events and player autograph signings. They have chapters around the country, from the Bay Area to Las Vegas to Los Angeles to the East Coast to Mexico. There is even a chapter in Australia!
Anyone can become an official member of the Black Hole…if they are willing to pay the base $59.95 membership fee.
ESPN made a great E:60 documentary episode on the Black Hole, which released in 2019, the Raiders’ final season in Oakland.
Just two years later, in September 2021, Black Hole co-founder Rob Rivera died of complications from COVID-19.
Will The Black Hole Attract More Fans To Cal Games?
UC Berkeley has had well-documented attendance issues at their football games in recent seasons.
That’s simply because Cal hasn’t been a consistent winning football program in two decades. Their last season with 10+ wins was 2006. That’s also the year their new starting QB was born.
In 2024, their average attendance was around 39,000 fans a game. For reference, California Memorial Stadium’s capacity is around 63,000.
The Golden Bears do have some momentum coming out of the 2024 season, however. The first College Gameday appearance in school history, which saw a massive and passionate fan turnout, as well as the emergence of Cal Twitter has improved morale around the program.
They are also off to a fast start in 2025. Cal thoroughly beat former Pac-12 rival Oregon State in their Week 1 game, 34-15.
They also have a star quarterback in Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele that fans across the country are excited about. He threw for 234 yards and 3 touchdowns with 0 interceptions in Cal’s win.
Sagapolutele is only the second true freshman in program history to start for Cal. Detroit Lions star Jared Goff was the other.
Will the play of Sagapolutele, the momentum gathered in 2024 and the addition of “The Black Bear” inspire increased attendance for UC Berkeley this season?
Fans will get their first glimpse at if the culture is changing this weekend. They are playing an FCS team in what should be a blowout, so if attendance is still low, that shouldn’t be considered an indictment of the entire season per se.
The real test will be when Cal takes on Minnesota on September 13 in an intriguing non-conference matchup.
Raiders fans, what do you think about Cal’s adoption of the Black Hole? Is it cool or corny?