Former UCLA All-American swimmer donates $10 million; earns field naming rights
By Gus Herrera
The famed turf at Rose Bowl Stadium will soon bear the name of record-breaking donor Tod Spieker: UCLA alumnus, respected philanthropist, self-proclaimed Rose Bowl historian, and member of the International Masters Swimming Hall of Fame.
At their latest meeting, the Pasadena City Council unanimously endorsed the Rose Bowl Legacy Campaign, an effort to raise $40 million before the stadium’s centennial birthday celebration in 2022.
The campaign is spearheaded by Legacy Connections, a non-profit organization tasked with raising funds for Rose Bowl capital improvements. Since its inception in 2010, with the support of the Rose Bowl Operating Company (RBOC), Legacy has privately raised $18.5 million in gross pledges/gifts for Pasadena’s iconic venue, according to city staff’s report.
In addition to financial support, Legacy has also cultivated some educational opportunities for the Pasadena community. Their Honda Trip to the Field allows every seventh grader in the Pasadena Unified School District to visit the Rose Bowl for a tour, healthy lunch, and a chance to play on the field. Legacy is also in the process of developing a reader program at Cleveland Elementary School.
But it is their newest campaign that is generating buzz, energized by Spieker’s lead gift of $10 million, the largest donation in Legacy history.
According to city staff, the Rose Bowl is facing increasingly more competition in the Los Angeles marketplace from new and renovated venues. In order to maintain the Rose Bowl as a viable and attractive destination, the Legacy campaign hopes to cover costs for several identified areas of need:
– New stadium lights (approximately $2-3 million).
– New stadium seating (approximately $8-11 million).
– Wi-Fi (approximately $6 million).
– Updated safety elements (approximately $1.2 million).
– Updated videoboard (price to be determined).
– Updated stadium concession stands and bathrooms (approximately $4.75 million).
– Updates and key improvements to Brookside Clubhouse (price to be determined).
Additionally, Spieker’s lead gift will fund an annual scholarship award to a Pasadena high school senior interested in pursuing an education in the following subjects: field maintenance, sports management, and stadium operations.
In recognition of Spieker’s commitment, the stadium’s turf will be named “Spieker Field at the Rose Bowl.” The name will be displayed on several locations throughout the venue, but not on the actual field.
Locations will include: the hedges on either side of the field, the four corner endzone pads by the entry tunnels, the back of the north videoboard, several concourse heritage images, and eight major stadium exits.
Unlike other similar stadium naming rights throughout the county, which are recognized in perpetuity, the Rose Bowl field will only bear Spieker’s name until 2044.
The city council, although slightly weary of opening the naming right floodgates for Rose Bowl Stadium, supported the recognition of Spieker’s donation because it was a personal gift, as opposed to a commercial advertisement. They cited the important difference between a donation made on emotional ties, rather than corporate ambitions.
“This effort is attempting to strike a balance … this is a donor recognition … people should have clearly in their mind that this is not the naming of a field in the traditional sense,” said Council Member Victor Gordo, who is also president of the RBOC.
Council Member Margaret McAustin admitted she was not “in love with the idea,” but she ultimately supported the donor recognition because the gift came from an individual who loves and respects the Rose Bowl.
Council Member Andy Wilson, praised the “delicate balance that’s been achieved,” but cautioned against allowing naming opportunities to snowball, envisioning “Formula 1 cars laden with advertisements.”
