UCLA will play seven home football games at the Rose Bowl this fall, keeping the Bruins in Pasadena for the 2026 season even as a legal battle continues over whether the university can eventually move its home games to SoFi Stadium.
The Bruins will open their Rose Bowl schedule Sept. 12 against San Diego State.
UCLA will then host Purdue on Sept. 19, Wisconsin on Oct. 17, Michigan State on Oct. 24, Nevada on Oct. 31, Illinois on Nov. 13 and crosstown rival USC on Nov. 28.
The seven-game home schedule comes during a pivotal period in UCLA’s decades-long relationship with the Rose Bowl.
Earlier this year, the city and Rose Bowl Operating Company (RBOC) sued the University of California Regents in October 2025, alleging UCLA’s efforts to move its home football games to SoFi Stadium violate an agreement requiring the Bruins to play at the Rose Bowl through 2044.
According to the lawsuit, Pasadena and the RBOC contend a UCLA departure could jeopardize contracts with vendors, concessionaires, security providers, ticketing partners and sponsors. The city also argues it relied on revenue from UCLA games when issuing taxpayer-funded debt for Rose Bowl renovations requested by the university.
UCLA and other defendants sought to move the dispute into arbitration, but Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Joseph Lipner denied motions to compel arbitration in February. UCLA appealed that ruling and subsequently sought to stay the lawsuit while the appeal is pending.
Lipner denied the request for a stay in April, ruling that delaying the case could cause substantial harm to Pasadena and the RBOC because they are seeking a timely determination of UCLA’s obligations under the Rose Bowl agreement.
The judge noted that UCLA’s decision to play its 2026 home schedule at the Rose Bowl reduced the immediate urgency of the dispute but did not resolve the larger issue.
UCLA has publicly committed to playing at the Rose Bowl this season, but the court noted that the university has not made the same commitment for 2027.
The Bruins have played their home games at the Rose Bowl since 1982 and has a lease to play in the iconic stadium through 2044.
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