Judge Denies Temporary Restraining Order in Rose Bowl and UCLA Lawsuit

Jan 23, 2026

By Jake Dicker, of Tulane Sports Law

On November 12, 2025 a Judge in Los Angeles County Superior Court denied a request by the city of Pasadena and the Rose Bowl Operating Committee (RBOC) for a temporary restraining order that would have forced UCLA to maintain their home at the Rose Bowl.  On October 29, 2025, the city of Pasadena and the (RBOC) sued UCLA in the Superior Court of California in Los Angeles for breach of contract and anticipatory repudiation.  The plaintiffs allege that UCLA has been in discussions with SoFi stadium in regard to the location of future UCLA football home games, and is in breach of the lease contract currently keeping the football team at the Rose Bowl.

UCLA has played its football games in the Rose Bowl since 1982, and plaintiffs in their complaint emphasize the historical significance of the stadium, as well as the hundreds of millions of dollars they have invested in improvements to the stadium over recent years.  In 2014, the city of Pasadena and the RBOC signed a thirty year lease with UCLA that mandated the Rose Bowl as the only venue in the Los Angeles/Orange County area that could host UCLA football games.  Within that lease, it was stated that UCLA’s attempt to depart from the Rose Bowl would constitute a breach of contract. 

The complaint alleges that in direct contradiction with the lease, UCLA has been in exploratory talks with SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California to move the football team’s home games there as soon as the 2026 season.  The city of Pasadena and the RBOC sought specific performance in the form of a court-ordered injunction requiring UCLA to continue playing its home games at the Rose Bowl through 2044, as well as monetary compensation.

“UCLA must be held to its contractual obligations with the City: to keep the Rose Bowl Stadium as the home of UCLA Football and to preserve a long-standing partnership in American sports,” stated plaintiffs’ lawyer, Nima Mohebbi of Sidley Austin LLP in Los Angeles.  Mary Osako, Vice Chancellor of Strategic Communications for UCLA, told the media about the possibility of moving stadiums that “while we continue to evaluate the long-term arrangement for UCLA football home games, no decision has been made.”  UCLA is represented by Jordan McCrary of Morgan Lewis LLP in Los Angeles.  Judge James C. Chalfant, presiding over the case, denied the city of Pasadena and the RBOC’s request for a temporary restraining order that would force UCLA to play its games at the Rose Bowl.  He reasoned that this was not an immediate threat, since the next UCLA football game in contention won’t be played until the fall of 2026, however Chalfant did state that specific performance may be applicable in this case, and plaintiffs now look towards the discovery phase of litigation.

Sources

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