UCLA has “long been negotiating” behind closed doors to move its home football games from the Rose Bowl to SoFi Stadium, despite a lease that runs until 2044, a lawsuit dated Wednesday alleges.
The suit was filed by the city of Pasadena and the Rose Bowl Operating Company, which runs the 103-year-old stadium. It said UCLA’s outside legal counsel told the city and Rose Bowl on Oct. 18 that the Bruins would stop playing games there, “contending that UCLA leadership, lawmakers in Sacramento, and other decision-makers had vetted and approved the decision.” Conversations among the school’s counsel, the city and the Rose Bowl Operating Company had been going on since at least March.
The suit alleges UCLA gave both public and private assurances about its partnership with the Rose Bowl before it “abruptly decided to abandon the stadium” and “did so in secret.” Over multiple meetings between UCLA and SoFi officials, discussions were detailed enough to discuss seating charts, revenue splits and how the Bruins’ move could fit into a larger development project, according to the suit.
If UCLA moves out, the suit contends that “the harm that would befall Pasadena and its residents could easily exceed a billion dollars (or more),” citing “hundreds of millions invested by partners, donors, and taxpayers to renovate the Rose Bowl Stadium and complete other projects undertaken at UCLA’s request.”
The Los Angeles Times first reported the lawsuit, which was filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court. It names UCLA and the California Board of Regents as defendants, and it seeks an order requiring the school to honor the remaining 19 years of its lease. The Bruins have been playing their home games at the Rose Bowl since 1982.
“While we continue to evaluate the long-term arrangement for UCLA football home games, no decision has been made,” Mary Osako, UCLA vice chancellor for strategic communications, said in a statement Thursday.
On Tuesday, the city of Pasadena’s attorney sought confirmation from the Bruins that they would continue playing at the Rose Bowl through June 2044, according to an exhibit attached to the lawsuit. An outside attorney for UCLA, Jordan McCrary, responded that the Bruins intend to keep playing at the venue “for the remainder of the football season.”
“That has not and will not change,” McCrary wrote. “So, nothing justifies the Rose Bowl’s threat to rush to court.”
Pasadena said it issued $150 million in bonds in 2010 to fund stadium renovations and refinanced $130 million in bonds last year. The Rose Bowl Operating Company has planned “approximately $200 million in capital improvements to the Rose Bowl Stadium over the next twenty years,” the suit said. The upgrades were “predicated on a stable, multi-decade tenancy by UCLA,” according to the suit.
According to the complaint, UCLA’s lease can only be terminated in the event of a “Game-Threatening Default,”a situation preventing a scheduled home game. Pasadena contends no such condition has occurred, making any move a breach of contract.
“That lease agreement is unambiguous, explicitly stating there is no option for UCLA to terminate the lease prior to its expiration in 2044,” the city said in a statement Thursday.
UCLA’s athletics department accrued a $51.8 million deficit in 2024. At a UC Regents meeting in May, athletic director Martin Jarmond claimed the school is missing out on $15 million to $25 million a year because its lease agreement does not include suite- or club-level revenue.
UCLA chief financial officer Stephen Agostini said in the same meeting that with operating deficits persisting, “what you generate out of your facilities” has become critical to the program’s bottom line. The Rose Bowl has agreed to build a new premium seating section by 2026, but even that fix may not bridge the financial gap UCLA faces.
SoFi Stadium, which is home to the NFL’s Los Angeles Chargers and Rams, opened in 2020 and boasts more than 260 luxury suites, according to its website.
Though the Rose Bowl’s postcard backdrop often masks it, the 26-mile distance between the university campus in Westwood and the stadium in Pasadena is a logistical headache. Students either drive and pay for parking or pile onto the school’s “Rooter Bus,” a fleet of coach buses that transport students to and from the stadium, a ride that can stretch close to an hour each way.
This disconnect has shown up in the bleachers, with attendance declining to record lows. UCLA averaged just more than 35,000 fans through its first four home games this season — on pace for the program’s lowest attendance since moving to the Rose Bowl in 1982.
The Bruins finished above only Northwestern and Maryland in Big Ten attendance figures in 2024, averaging about 46,805 per game in a stadium that can seat 89,702.
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