The UCLA Bruins are set to play their home games for the 2026 season in Pasadena at the Rose Bowl but that doesn’t mean that UCLA football’s stadium drama is through. On Thursday a Los Angeles Superior Court judge rejected UCLA’s attempt to throw out the Rose Bowl’s breach-of-contract lawsuit that the stadium has against the school.
Drama about a potential move to Inglewood for UCLA have been circulating since last year, with the Bruins eyeing SoFi Stadium as a financially lucrative option for UCLA while moving the team closer to the school’s actual campus in Westwood.
Ben Bolch of the Los Angeles Post reported that Judge Joseph Lipner rejected UCLA’s proposal, calling it “untimely and unsupported by sufficient cause to permit late filing.” The Rose Bowl filed the lawsuit in October of 2025, before UCLA filed their request for the case to be thrown out in March.
Lipner kept things blunt about UCLA’s unsuccessful motion.
“UCLA’s late filing of an anti-SLAPP motion has the effect of stringing out UCLA’s efforts to slow down or stay these proceedings,” Lipner wrote. “It essentially would give UCLA two bites at the apple for purposes of attempting to obtain a stay, with those two attempts spread over a period of months. This is not a good or appropriate use of the anti-SLAPP statute.”
Even with the legal battles, the Bruins’ football program is in a lease with the stadium through the 2043 football season. New head coach Bob Chesney has publicly gushed over getting to coach at the Rose Bowl but a move to SoFi still feels within the realm of possibilities for the program.
The Rose Bowl is currently undergoing renovations, including a new field-club level, which are planned to be ready for the UCLA football season, which kicks off in Pasadena on September 12th against San Diego State.
This article originally appeared on UCLA Wire: UCLA’s motion to throw out the Rose Bowl’s lawsuit gets rejected
Reporting by Dylan McNeill, UCLA Wire / UCLA Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Dylan McNeill, UCLA Wire | USA TODAY Network
