Lawyers for UCLA and the city will return to court Sept. 2 to resume a case management conference in the lawsuit the city and the Rose Bowl Operating Company filed to keep UCLA football at the historic stadium.
According to the lawsuit, UCLA sought to leave the Rose Bowl and move its home football games to SoFi Stadium in Inglewood despite a lease that runs through 2044.
The parties did not appear in court Tuesday as previously scheduled. Instead, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Joseph Lipner continued the case management conference to Sept. 2 while he considers remaining motions in the case.
For the city, the stakes extend beyond football. The Rose Bowl is owned by the city, and officials have said taxpayers funded more than $150 million in stadium renovations and refinanced approximately $130 million in bonds tied to capital improvements.
The lawsuit alleges UCLA’s departure could cost the city and its residents more than $1 billion in damages.
Pasadena and the Rose Bowl Operating Company sued the University of California Regents on Oct. 29, seeking to enforce a lease they contend prohibits UCLA from leaving before it expires.
The city argues the lease, signed in 2010 and amended in 2014, contains no early termination clause and requires the Bruins to play their home football games at the Rose Bowl through June 30, 2044. The agreement also prohibits UCLA from playing home games at another venue in Los Angeles or Orange counties.
The plaintiffs allege UCLA violated that agreement by pursuing a move to SoFi Stadium and later added Kroenke Sports & Entertainment LLC and Stadco LA LLC, entities affiliated with SoFi Stadium, as defendants, alleging they interfered with the lease.
In May, Courthouse News reported UCLA was “unlikely to shake off” the lawsuit.
Judge Joseph Lipner has largely ruled in favor of allowing the case to proceed.
In early June, he permitted claims for breach of contract, anticipatory repudiation, declaratory relief, breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing and tortious interference to move forward.
He dismissed only a promissory estoppel claim without leave to amend and denied UCLA’s anti-SLAPP motion, finding it was untimely and unsupported by sufficient cause. Earlier, he also rejected UCLA’s request to send the dispute to arbitration.
The litigation has also produced text messages disclosed during discovery between Kevin Demoff, an executive with Kroenke Sports & Entertainment and the Los Angeles Rams, and former UCLA Vice Chancellor Steve Agostini.
One August message from Demoff read, “good luck tonight, next year at SoFi!” Another exchange in February discussed touring SoFi Stadium “to see how we would make next season work,” with Demoff replying, “Yes will make whatever work.”
UCLA has disputed the city’s claims and denied it breached the lease.
Earlier this month, published reports indicated the city and the Rose Bowl Operating Company had entered settlement talks that could keep UCLA at the Rose Bowl through the end of the lease. Reached by Pasadena Now, city spokeswoman Lisa Derderian declined to comment, saying only, “We cannot comment on pending litigation.”
The Sept. 2 hearing is expected to address scheduling and discovery issues. It will not determine whether UCLA must remain at the Rose Bowl through the expiration of its lease.
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