A 3-7 record this season also involves the firing of the head coach, DeShaun Foster, and the QB1, Nico Iamaleava, being inconsistent. Even though the UCLA ball isn’t working, some are blaming the Rose Bowl as the culprit. The 20th-largest stadium in the world and the 11th largest in the United States, it also carries more than a century of history. The Bruins have been the tenants of the stadium since 1982, but reportedly have no intention of continuing the tradition.

According to Huddle Up’s Joe Pompliano, UCLA is reportedly leaking news about a potential $80 million buyout to exit the contract with the Rose Bowl. “UCLA appears to be leaking reports to the media indicating it can exit its lease at the Rose Bowl by paying a buyout of $60million to $80 million,” reported Pompliano. But why exit the historic Rose Bowl?

The program is reportedly negotiating a deal with SoFi Stadium to play its home games, starting from 2026. The 2020-built stadium is 14 miles closer to the campus and has 10,000 more premium seats. The stadium is already home to the LA Chargers and Rams, which can make it a viable spot. Still, the major factor is the ticketing revenue the program would get from the SoFi Stadium.

UCLA currently generates $10 to $12 million in ticketing revenue from home games at the Rose Bowl. Moreover, the program also doesn’t receive the full extent of that revenue, and UCLA currently needs the sum. For one, after the House vs NCAA settlement $20.5 million more is required to stay competitive in college football through revenue sharing. The Bruins haven’t been for quite some time. They’ve had losing records in seven of the last 10 years. They’ve gone through five coaches and endured countless disappointments.

Naturally, fewer fans would come and support their team during this period. A change in scenario doesn’t guarantee a winning momentum for the team. They’re averaging 37,099 this season, entering Saturday night’s home finale against Washington, a pace that would set the record for the lowest UCLA season attendance at the Rose Bowl. But the financial decision may drive the decision to start at SoFi Stadium.

Not to mention, the program is also paying the $2.8 billion backpay to former athletes mandated by the settlement. So, by relocating, UCLA is vying for a significant increment in its ticketing revenue, going up to $25 million annually. Never mind the extra 260 luxury suites; the program would be getting into the stadium. But exiting the agreement with the Rose Bowl isn’t so straightforward.

“After digging through the school’s 60+ page contract with the Rose Bowl this week, UCLA seemingly pulled that number ($80 million) out of thin air,” reported Pompliano. Why? The contract doesn’t even specify a buyout fee and strictly prohibits exiting the contract or even negotiating with a third party. UCLA then came up with the $80 million number to influence further negotiations on the cards. However, it is leading to legal complications now.

Is a legal battle imminent for UCLA with the Rose Bowl?

UCLA currently seems keen to pull out of the Rose Bowl deal. The home games’ attendances are woeful, and empty seats are a regular sight for fans. UCLA even tried to hide actual attendance numbers by inflating them by more than 10-15,000. When UCLA faced Utah, the actual numbers were reported to be 35,032 in the Rose Bowl. However, athletic officials reported a 27,785 figure through a scan count. This predicament is fairly regular in Pasadena now.

“Now, disappointingly, it would appear that the same attendance challenges that UCLA football faced at the Coliseum in the 1970s are repeating themselves at the Rose Bowl,” said a former UCLA assistant chancellor, John Sandbrook. In 2014, under Jim Mora, UCLA averaged a whopping 76,650 fans at the Rose Bowl. But now that number has spiraled down to around 37,000. Is switching to SoFi Stadium a solution, then?

Coming out of the deal won’t be as easy as UCLA expects. The program had requested the Rose Bowl Operating Company to take $200 million in debt in bonds for the stadium’s renovation. The company is still paying interest on that amounting to $12 million annually. So, if UCLA exits, it would mean less revenue for the Rose Bowl, which would bring out a legal fight quickly.

Recently, the company had requested a TRO on UCLA as they have started negotiating a deal with SoFi Stadium. But the court rejected it. All signs then point towards a high-stakes legal battle in Los Angeles, which could have massive consequences for future stadium deals. For now, though, UCLA is expecting that RBOC would take that $60 to $80 million number as a starting point and can extract an out-of-court settlement. However, it remains to be seen if the company will agree to that.