The City of Pasadena and the Rose Bowl Operating Co. filed a lawsuit Wednesday night to force UCLA to honor the remaining two decades of its contract and keep Bruin football games in the historic stadium through 2044.
The complaint, filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court against UCLA and the University of California Regents, alleges that the university has been “unequivocally expressing its intent to abandon the Rose Bowl Stadium and relocate its home football games to SoFi Stadium in Inglewood,” and calls that “a profound betrayal of trust.”
UCLA’s lease runs through June 30, 2044, and Pasadena officials say taxpayers have invested more than $150 million in stadium renovations, while recently refinancing another $130 million in bonds for additional capital improvements.
“This lawsuit arises in an era when money too often eclipses meaning and the pursuit of profit threatens to erase the very traditions that breathe life into institutions,” the filing reads.
“Some commitments are too fundamental to be traded away.”
The filing alleges that UCLA, after years of public assurances that it is staying, has now “chosen to disregard those promises” and has formally notified the plaintiffs that it is “moving on” and that “there’s no way we’re staying long term.”
Although UCLA has yet to file a formal response to the lawsuit, the university disputed the allegations in an exhibit included in the filing. In a letter to Pasadena’s attorney, Nima Mohebbi, UCLA outside counsel David L. Schrader wrote in March that the university has not violated the agreement and that “preliminary discussions” that contemplate a move “do not constitute a material breach for which RBOC would be entitled to a legal or equitable remedy.”
Schrader wrote that UCLA “continues to evaluate strategic goals and how to be fiscally responsible and best fulfill its mission.”
The lawsuit asks for a court order that requires UCLA to honor the entirety of its lease.
The filing contends that it would be devastating to Pasadena and the stadium were UCLA to violate the agreement, that the harm caused to the city and its residents “could easily exceed a billion dollars (or more),” and that monetary damages could never truly remedy UCLA’s conduct.
A UCLA athletic department spokesperson did not immediately respond Wednesday night to a request for comment.
Home attendance at a stadium located 26 miles from campus has been a deepening concern in recent seasons for UCLA. The team has averaged 35,253 fans for its four home games this season, putting it on track for an all-time low at the Rose Bowl.
The Bruins’ five worst home season-attendance figures since moving to the Rose Bowl in 1982 have come over the last five seasons not interrupted by COVID-19, including 46,805 in 2024. That figure ranked 16th among the 18 Big Ten Conference teams, ahead of only Maryland and Northwestern, which was playing at a temporary lakeside stadium seating just 12,023.
Staff writer Ben Bolch contributed to this report.
This story originally appeared on LA Times
