Pasadena officials and the operators of the Rose Bowl on Monday stepped up their legal battle with UCLA with a request for a restraining order to keep the Bruins’ home football games from moving to SoFi Stadium or another local venue.
The city and the Rose Bowl Operating Company filed suit late last month against UCLA in an attempt to enforce a lease agreement in effect until 2044.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Joseph Lipner is now considering the plaintiff’s request that while the lawsuit plays out, he prohibit UCLA from playing any home football games anywhere in the Southland except the Roe Bowl and prevent the university from trying to cancel the Rose Bowl lease agreement.
A hearing on the temporary restraining order was scheduled for Wednesday morning “or soon thereafter” in downtown Los Angeles, according to the city’s court filing Monday.
UCLA is exploring the possibility of moving its home football games to SoFi Stadium in Inglewood.
Mary Osako, UCLA vice chancellor for strategic communications, said last month saying the university has not formally decided to move out of the Rose Bowl and into SoFi.
“While we continue to evaluate the long-term arrangement for UCLA football home games, no decision has been made,” Osako said in a statement.
According to a statement announcing the lawsuit by Pasadena officials, a UCLA representative “has notified the city and Rose Bowl of UCLA’s intent to take steps that will breach the agreement — an agreement that was signed back in 2010 and amended in 2014.”
Officials asserted that “the city expects UCLA will honor the terms of the agreement, and the City Council will do everything in its power to protect and defend the city’s contractual rights on behalf of the public interest, the city’s residents, and all in our region.”
The city’s statement said UCLA has been a partner for over 40 years and the city and venue have exceeded its contractual obligations, including “significant time, effort, and financial resources” as well as “ongoing major renovation work,” all in partnership with the university.
“The potential economic and reputational damage of UCLA’s attempt to break its lease is significant to the Rose Bowl Stadium, Pasadena residents, and the local and regional economy,” according to the city.
The lawsuit contends UCLA’s intent “to abandon the Rose Bowl” and move home football games to SoFi Stadium in Inglewood “is not only a clear break of the contract that governs the parties’ relationship, but it is also a profound betrayal of trust, of tradition, and of the very community that helped build UCLA football,” according to court papers.
The city has spent “$150 million in public investment, modernization, and bond financing by Pasadena taxpayers,” according to attorneys for the city and Rose Bowl reported in their initial court filing Oct. 29.
Citing multiple sources in the UCLA athletic department, Bruin Report Online noted that UCLA is finalizing the deal for football home games at SoFi.
One source described it as a “near-done deal,” and many athletic department sources discuss the relocation like it has already been acknowledged and accepted as happening, according to the website.
Last year UCLA and crosstown rival USC joined the higher-profile Big Ten Conference after decades in the Pac-12.
