Excerpt from Ben Bolch, sports columnist, LA Times:
...Who’s driving the proposed move to SoFi Stadium and what do the numbers look like? There’s been lots of chatter about chief financial officer Steven Agostini trying to clean up the financial mess you both inherited within the athletic department. I’m assuming there have been extensive calculations about a Rose Bowl payout and how much more money you’d make playing at SoFi Stadium.
But how much of that is SoFi spin and aren’t you worried that a judge could make you pay so much in damages that the whole thing would be a net negative? Yes, you’d presumably get suite revenue at SoFi Stadium, but would anyone want to buy one given what we’ve seen from this football team over the last decade? Shouldn’t you just go back to the Rose Bowl, football helmet in hand, and ask for a lease renegotiation that satisfies both sides?
Are you sure a big enough chunk of the fan base is on board with a move to Inglewood to justify such a jarring and abrupt abandonment of the school’s longtime home? If you indeed left the Rose Bowl, how would you compensate donors who contributed major gifts to the stadium for capital improvements on the premise that the Bruins would be a tenant through the 2043 season? And why would any business entity ever feel comfortable signing a long-term lease with the school again? ...
Full column at https://www.latimes.com/sports/ucla/newsletter/2025-11-24/ucla-unlocked-nov-24.
NOTE: As blog readers will know, the Academic Senate is already unhappy about lack of disclosure of financial information by Murphy Hall. A screw-up in the Rose Bowl/SoFi Stadium matter could end up costing big bucks. What exactly are the projections for staying in the Rose Bowl, moving to SoFi, and for potential legal liability costs? And what about the issue - raised above - about soliciting future donations from those "who contributed major gifts to the [Rose Bowl] for capital improvements on the promise that the Bruins would be a tenant through the 2043 season"? Enquiring minds want to know.
And meanwhile:
From the Bruin (excerpt):
...The City of Pasadena and the [Rose Bowl Operating Company] alleged in their TRO application that UCLA met with SoFi representatives as early as March 2025. They also claimed that UCLA informed the plaintiffs’ council Oct. 18 that it was “moving on” from the Rose Bowl...
Moving on? Seems to be the trend:
Or direct to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKfEDZ8Htjk.
Particularly true when you have no truck with staying:
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