{"id":188074,"date":"2026-02-22T00:15:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-22T00:15:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/188074\/"},"modified":"2026-02-22T00:15:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-22T00:15:09","slug":"ucla-to-play-2026-football-season-at-rose-bowl-as-lawsuit-continues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/188074\/","title":{"rendered":"UCLA to play 2026 football season at Rose Bowl as lawsuit continues"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

New UCLA coach Bob Chesney<\/a> will direct his first football season in a historic venue the Bruins have long called home.<\/p>\n

UCLA announced on Saturday that the Bruins will play the 2026 season at the Rose Bowl<\/a> amid ongoing litigation of the university\u2019s right to potentially break its lease and play home games at SoFi Stadium. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe know how much game day means to Bruins \u2014 to our students, alumni and fans who plan their autumn around Saturdays together,\u201d UCLA vice chancellor for strategic communications Mary Osako said in a statement<\/a>. \u201cOur priority is delivering a strong season experience for our student-athletes and our community, and we have great momentum in our football program.<\/p>\n

\u201cDuring this unprecedented time in college athletics, UCLA will always be guided by what\u2019s best for our student-athletes and the Bruin community.\u201d<\/p>\n

The California Post was the first to report UCLA\u2019s decision to play another season at the Rose Bowl.<\/p>\n

While the lawsuit states UCLA has formally notified the Rose Bowl that it is \u201cmoving on\u201d and that \u201cthere\u2019s no way we\u2019re staying long term,\u201d the school has never publicly announced plans to move its home games to SoFi Stadium. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhile we continue to evaluate the long-term arrangement for UCLA football home games, no decision has been made,\u201d Osako said in a statement to The Times in October.<\/p>\n

After a judge denied UCLA\u2019s request to settle its legal dispute with the Rose Bowl operators and city of Pasadena via arbitration, it seemed unlikely the legal issues would be resolved in time for UCLA play the 2026 season anywhere but the Rose Bowl. <\/p>\n

The city of Pasadena and the Rose Bowl Operating Co. filed a lawsuit<\/a> in October to force UCLA<\/a> to honor its contract and play games at the stadium through the 2044 season. <\/p>\n

The complaint and subsequent filings have alleged that the university has been working to play its home games at SoFi Stadium, calling the move \u201ca profound betrayal of trust.\u201d Rose Bowl officials have since added SoFi Stadium and its operator, Kroenke Sports, to the lawsuit.<\/p>\n

UCLA\u2019s lease runs through June 30, 2044, and Pasadena officials say taxpayers have invested more than $150 million in stadium renovations while recently refinancing an additional $130 million in bonds for capital improvements<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The iconic Rose Bowl opened in 1922, is a national historic landmark and boasts ample tailgating opportunities, but some fans have complained about the aging venue\u2019s uncomfortable seating and lack of modern amenities.<\/p>\n

The next hearing in the case is scheduled for Friday as it proceeds toward trial.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New UCLA coach Bob Chesney will direct his first football season in a historic venue the Bruins have…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":188075,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[8932,1409,6848,10655,1073,48,52,51,1846,5374,47,50,49,492,1977,10657,278,5712,1092,1816,88409],"class_list":["post-188074","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-bruins","tag-city","tag-decision","tag-football-season","tag-home","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-lawsuit","tag-lease","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news","tag-october","tag-pasadena","tag-rose-bowl","tag-season","tag-sofi-stadium","tag-ucla","tag-university","tag-unprecedented-time"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/188074","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=188074"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/188074\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/188075"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=188074"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=188074"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=188074"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}