First ‘Naming Opportunities’ to Appear at Rose Bowl this Season

While no one is changing the name of the Rose Bowl yet, at least one major Pasadena company is buying the rights to add its name to a very prominent part of the stadium’s landscape.

Pasadena-based credit union Wescom, will see its name prominently displayed as part of a new Parkway Entrance to the stadium at the southern end of the landscaped median at the corner of Arroyo and Seco.

The parkway entrance will feature a new entrance sign reading “Rose Bowl Drive” set on an arroyo stone base, along with upgraded landscaping.

The new sign, for which Wescom paid $120,000 for five years, is one part of the Rose Bowl Operating Company’s “Legacy Connection” naming opportunities program, first developed in 2010 to assist funding for various elements of the Rose Bowl renovation project.

The project is expected to be completed before the first UCLA game of the 2016 season on September 10.

According to Rose Bowl General Manager Daryl Dunn, who addressed the City Council Finance Committee prior to the full council’s approval of the Amended Capital Improvements Project, the Rose Bowl Operating Company’s (RBOC) Legacy Connection program will also fund the restoration of an original 1922 Rose Bowl locker room, which Dunn described as “pretty run down.”

The locker room, according to a RBOC staff report, sits just inside the fence line on the northeast area of the concourse, and is accessed through Tunnel 7A. The room will be renovated to include “multi-faceted functional space,” that would be available for private events, or as part of an “improved stadium tour,” as well as a “potential pre-game space for future Legacy fundraising events.”

Though a donor has not been announced, the Legacy program will be funding the 1922 Locker Room project at a cost of approximately $250,000, which, according to the staff report, has already been collected.