The school wants more stadium revenue opportunities.
The stadium game is now being played in the college sports industry in Los Angeles. University of California Los Angeles or UCLA officials want to leave the Rose Bowl in Pasadena and move the college football team to the Inglewood stadium that houses the National Football League’s Los Angeles Chargers and Los Angeles Rams franchises. There is a problem for UCLA officials. The college football team has a lease to use the Pasadena stadium through 2044. The deal allows the team to play at the Rose Bowl rent free but the tradeoff is significant. UCLA officials lack the kind of revenue streams in the Rose Bowl that are needed today in the quasi-world of college professional sports. School officials don’t get money from luxury boxes or stadium sponsorships. The lease has more than 18 years to go and Pasadena elected officials are trying to stop the relocation. The city has gone to court to block a move to Inglewood or to the Los Angeles Coliseum.
“The City of Pasadena took the unfortunate but necessary step of filing a lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court to enforce a lease agreement between the Rose Bowl Stadium and UCLA. That lease agreement is unambiguous, explicitly stating there is no option for UCLA to terminate the lease prior to its expiration in 2044. Notwithstanding the clear language of the lease, a representative from UCLA has notified the City and the Rose Bowl of UCLA’s intent to take steps that will breach the agreement.” UCLA football has been played at the Rose Bowl since 1982. The city of Pasadena wants the school to stay. In the court action, the Pasadena lawyers also argued that the city would suffer “immediate and irreparable harm” if UCLA’s football team leaves. The stadium game is now being played out in college sports.
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Rose Bowl
