A Los Angeles Superior Court judge questioned Thursday whether the City’s advance breach claim that UCLA signaled it would abandon the Rose Bowl years before its stadium agreement expires fits within the contract’s narrow arbitration clause.
Judge Joseph Lipner took the matter under submission after oral arguments last week. City officials are now awaiting a ruling on the motion, which could ultimately open the door for UCLA to move its football games from the Rose Bowl to SoFi Stadium in Inglewood.
According to the city’s lawsuit, UCLA has been negotiating a potential move to SoFi Stadium despite a lease with the Rose Bowl Operating Company that does not expire until 2044.
In court papers filed in November, attorneys for the UC Regents argued that the Rose Bowl Operating Company and the City are bound by an arbitration agreement and that no exceptions apply to the city’s claims.
The city and the Rose Bowl Operating Company counter that the regents have no legal basis to compel arbitration, arguing the dispute resolution provision in the lease is deliberately narrow and was never intended to apply to a conflict over whether UCLA can leave the stadium.
City attorneys argue that mechanism applies only to routine, curable performance issues, not to efforts to terminate the agreement or situations involving what the lease defines as a game-threatening default — a condition that could prevent the Bruins from playing a scheduled home game at the Rose Bowl.
When either side seeks to end the agreement, the contract allows for a neutral third party only if all parties agree in writing.
The City to date has not provided a written agreement allowing for the neutral third party.
Kroenke Sports & Entertainment LLC and Stadco LA LLC have also filed a motion to compel arbitration. The City is arguing those companies are not parties to the UCLA lease and therefore have no standing to enforce its provisions.
UCLA currently pays no rent to play at the Rose Bowl and does not receive revenue from the stadium’s luxury suites.
City officials contend the university could receive a share of suite revenue under a potential deal at SoFi Stadium, which is closer to campus and part of the Hollywood Park development in Inglewood led by Rams owner Stanley Kroenke.
That privately funded, 300-acre project is being built on the former Hollywood Park racetrack site and includes planned housing, retail and dining space, entertainment venues, offices, hotels, parks and a future film-production campus.
Court filings describe a series of discussions and internal developments that city attorneys say show UCLA was actively planning to relocate its home games to SoFi Stadium without formally terminating its Rose Bowl lease.
Even if the judge orders arbitration, UCLA could still face substantial financial penalties if it ultimately leaves the Rose Bowl.
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