UCLA has played home games in the Rose Bowl in Pasadena since 1982. Gary A. Vasquez / Imagn Images

The city of Pasadena and the Rose Bowl Operating Company have filed an emergency motion seeking a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction to prevent UCLA from moving its home football games to SoFi Stadium, escalating an already heated legal battle over the Bruins’ Rose Bowl lease, which runs through 2044.

The motion, which was filed Monday morning in Los Angeles County Superior Court, asks Judge Joseph Lipner to bar UCLA from staging home football games anywhere in Los Angeles County or Orange County other than the Rose Bowl, and from “terminating or seeking to terminate” the lease agreement altogether. A hearing has been set for Wednesday.

The filing argues that UCLA has “confirmed its imminent departure” and that allowing the move would cause “immediate and irreparable harm” to the city and the stadium, which depend heavily on UCLA’s tenancy. The city of Pasadena says UCLA’s plans to play at SoFi as soon as 2026 threaten the stability of a public asset it describes as “the heart of the community” — and one still carrying nearly $184 million in outstanding bond debt backed by taxpayers.

“Without confirmation that UCLA intends to honor its contractual commitments … Plaintiffs are deprived of the ability to plan and manage the stadium’s schedule and operations,” the filing states. “There is no way to sugarcoat it: UCLA has confirmed its imminent departure, severely destabilizing Plaintiffs’ core operations.”

The new filing follows an Oct. 29 lawsuit in which Pasadena and the Rose Bowl accused UCLA of breaching its lease and saying it has “long been negotiating” — at least since March — a relocation to SoFi behind closed doors. That suit alleged that UCLA and SoFi officials met repeatedly to discuss seating charts, revenue splits and integration with future mixed-use developments, all without notifying the stadium authority.

UCLA responded by saying “no decision has been made,” but Monday’s filing argued that the school’s “recent half-hearted efforts to obscure its position warrant no lesser relief,” citing communications in which UCLA officials allegedly told the Rose Bowl that the school was “moving on” and “will leave.”

A message to a UCLA spokesperson Monday morning was not immediately returned.

Under the 2014 restated agreement, UCLA does not pay rent at the Rose Bowl; instead, Pasadena receives a share of ticket and concession revenue. The bond structure that financed stadium renovations — roughly $200 million in upgrades since 2010 — was designed around that arrangement. Pasadena is arguing that losing UCLA would force the city to dip into its general fund to cover debt payments and could result in a credit downgrade.

The Rose Bowl, which is located 26 miles from campus and has hosted UCLA since 1982, has seen declining attendance in recent seasons, with crowds averaging just over 35,000 fans this fall in a stadium that seats nearly 90,000. UCLA leaders have cited financial pressure, including a $51.8 million athletic department deficit in 2024, as they explore ways to generate more stadium revenue. At a UC Regents meeting in May, athletic director Martin Jarmond and chief financial officer Stephen Agostini said the Rose Bowl’s lease limits the program’s ability to capitalize on premium seating and sponsorship income.

Still, Pasadena maintains that UCLA’s lease leaves no wiggle room. The TRO seeks to preserve what the filing calls a decades-old “public partnership fundamental to the City’s civic identity and economic fabric” until the full lawsuit is resolved.

If the restraining order is granted Wednesday, UCLA could be barred — at least temporarily — from finalizing or announcing any SoFi Stadium deal. If it’s denied, the school’s path to Inglewood, about 13 miles from campus, could quickly clear.

UCLA’s 2025 home football finale at the Rose Bowl is on Nov. 22 vs. Washington.

Nov 10, 2025

Connections: Sports Edition

Spot the pattern. Connect the terms

Find the hidden link between sports terms

Ira Gorawara is an intern on the colleges desk at The Athletic focusing on UCLA and the greater Los Angeles area. A senior at UCLA, she was the Sports editor at the Daily Bruin. Prior to joining The Athletic, she worked at the Los Angeles Times, the South China Morning Post, NDTV and a number of cricket publications worldwide.