Report: UCLA Close to Signing Deal with SoFi

According to a published media report, UCLA is finalizing a deal with SoFi Stadium for its football program to leave the Rose Bowl and play at SoFi Stadium.

“UCLA is finalizing the deal for its football program to play its home games in SoFi Stadium, according to multiple sources within the UCLA athletic department,” sports website 24/7 reported on Sunday.

Pasadena Now has been unable to independently confirm the report.

“While it probably shouldn’t be considered an absolute certainty, many sources discuss it like it’s already been acknowledged and accepted as happening,” 24/7 wrote.

The site said that UCLA will play its home games at SoFi starting with the 2026 football season and more details will be officially announced at the end of the current football season in just a few weeks.

Any such move would face significant hurdles. Pasadena and the Rose Bowl Operating Company filed suit on Oct. 29 to enforce UCLA’s current lease through June 30, 2044, and the City Council is slated to receive a litigation update in closed session Monday.

Pasadena Chief Communications Officer Lisa Derderian said Sunday she could not comment, citing the pending litigation.

UCLA has publicly characterized prior conversations about SoFi as preliminary and has not announced that it has made any final decision about leaving the Rose Bowl.

According to a copy of the complaint obtained by Pasadena Now, UCLA’s potential decision to relocate its home football games to SoFi Stadium has sparked a significant legal fight over one of college football’s most storied venues.

In the lawsuit, the City of Pasadena and the Rose Bowl Operating Company (RBOC) ask the court to enforce UCLA’s existing lease and require the Bruins to continue playing their home football games at the Rose Bowl through June 30, 2044.

The complaint alleges UCLA “chose to disregard previous promises” and attempted to exit its Rose Bowl commitment nearly two decades before its contractual obligation expires.

According to the complaint, the City and RBOC sent a formal breach-warning letter on March 11, after learning the university had engaged in discussions regarding SoFi, demanding confirmation by 5 p.m. that day that the university would comply with the lease. In response, UCLA reportedly stated only that any discussions with SoFi Stadium were only “preliminary.”

On May 13, Athletic Director Martin Jarmond assured the University’s governing board that UCLA intended to remain at the Rose Bowl and highlighted ongoing facility upgrades.

But in two phone calls on October 18 and October 23, UCLA representatives informed the City that the university was exploring options to terminate the lease and leave the Rose Bowl and was seeking a “commercial solution” to terminate early.

In an October 28 letter, Pasadena’s outside counsel Nima Mohebbi asked UCLA to confirm by the next day that the university would comply with its lease through 2044.

The city contends UCLA never provided that assurance, effectively repudiating the contract.

The lawsuit formally alleges three causes of action—breach of contract, anticipatory breach, and declaratory relief—and seeks specific performance compelling UCLA to continue playing at the Rose Bowl.

It also requests preliminary and permanent injunctions to prevent UCLA from playing its home games elsewhere during the lease term, as well as damages potentially exceeding $1 billion, plus attorneys’ fees and court costs.

“UCLA’s attempt to walk away from its contractual commitments is particularly egregious,” the complaint states, given years of taxpayer-funded investments and ongoing capital improvements to the stadium—including significant enhancements that directly benefit the university’s athletic program.”

Pasadena invested more than $150 million in Rose Bowl upgrades based on the expectation of continued UCLA tenancy, and the lawsuit argues that losing Bruins home games would leave the city unable to recover its investment through game-day revenue.

On Saturday, more than 44,000 fans packed the stadium to watch the Bruins battle the Nebraska Cornhuskers.

Meanwhile, SoFi Stadium has overtaken the Rose Bowl as the region’s premier sports and entertainment venue—hosting artists and championship events that once called the historic stadium home. For some, this shift underscores the financial and competitive pressures facing legacy venues like the Rose Bowl.

At about 12 miles from UCLA’s Westwood campus—less than half the distance to the Rose Bowl—SoFi offers proximity and contemporary amenities that are alluring to collegiate programs. But Pasadena officials insist that the Rose Bowl’s legacy outweighs logistics.

“For decades, Pasadena and its residents have poured their hearts, resources, and identity into the Rose Bowl,” the complaint reads. “Now, UCLA has chosen to cast that aside.”

The City and RBOC describe the Rose Bowl as a “National Historic Landmark” and argue it is not only a venue but a civic institution central to Pasadena’s identity.

The complaint concludes, “The City and RBOC ask only that UCLA perform the commitments it made—so that the law matters, that promises endure, and that integrity is not for sale.”