A judge Wednesday denied a request by Pasadena officials and Rose Bowl operators for a temporary restraining order barring UCLA from moving football home games elsewhere.
The city and the Rose Bowl Operating Co. sued the university late last month to enforce a lease agreement for Bruins games at the venue until 2044.
Judge James Chalfant saw no evidence of an immediate emergency that called for a restraining order while the lawsuit plays out.
The city and Rose Bowl asked the court Monday for a restraining order prohibiting UCLA from moving home football games to any other venues in Los Angeles or Orange counties and from trying to terminate the university’s Rose Bowl lease while the lawsuit is pending.
“We appreciate the Court’s careful and thoughtful consideration before its ruling today,” Pasadena spokeswoman Lisa Derderian said in a statement. “While the Court held that — on UCLA’s representation that it had not signed an agreement with SoFi Stadium yet — no emergency existed which demanded temporary relief, the Court did invite the City of Pasadena and the Rose Bowl Operating Company to seek discovery and to file a motion for a preliminary injunction.
The judge also acknowledged “real and concrete evidence of injury and irreparable harm to the City not compensable by money damages alone,” Derderian said, adding that the city “intends to file a motion for preliminary injunction and pursue comprehensive discovery.”
She said city officials are “confident the Court will see the irreparable harm facing the Rose Bowl Stadium, the City of Pasadena, public taxpayers, and the regional economy should UCLA move forward with plans to breach its lease. The written lease signed by UCLA is clear — UCLA made a binding commitment not to leave the Rose Bowl Stadium until 2044 and it waived its right to terminate the lease agreement. We look forward to the hearing on the preliminary injunction.”
The university has indicated that it is exploring options for a new home football venue, specifically SoFi Stadium in Inglewood.
One more home game remains on UCLA’s schedule this season.
Mary Osako, UCLA vice chancellor for strategic communications, said last the university has not made any decisions about the future venue for Bruin home games.
“While we continue to evaluate the long-term arrangement for UCLA football home games, no decision has been made,” she said in a statement.
Pasadena officials said 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.”
A city statement noted expectations that “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.”
UCLA has played home games at the Rose Bowl for more than 40 years.
The city has spent “$150 million in public investment, modernization, and bond financing by Pasadena taxpayers,” according to attorneys for Pasadena and the Rose Bowl in their initial court filing Oct. 29.
Officials said the city and Rose Bowl have exceeded contractual obligations, including “significant time, effort, and financial resources” and “ongoing major renovation work,” all in partnership with UCLA.
According to the lawsuit, UCLA has expressed its intent “to abandon the Rose Bowl Stadium and relocate its home football games to SoFi Stadium in Inglewood.”
Citing multiple sources in the UCLA athletic department, Bruin Report Online noted that UCLA is finalizing a deal for football home games at SoFi.
One source said it was a “near-done deal,” and many athletic department sources discussed the relocation as if it has been accepted as moving forward, according to the website.
