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Rose Bowl Stadium is, no doubt, the most recognizable stadium in college football. The building has been home to the Rose Bowl since it was built, while the actual bowl game was first played at Tournament Park in 1902 before its namesake stadium adopted the event shortly after being built in 1923. For over 100 years, the Rose Bowl has been an integral part of the college football season.
That part is unlikely to change. However, the UCLA Bruins have also called the Rose Bowl their home stadium since 1982, and USC also plays some games there. But according to a report Sunday morning following college football's Week 11 slate of games, UCLA is in the process of leaving the Rose Bowl as their home stadium and instead plan to play at SoFi Stadium going forward.
"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," Tracy Pierson of 247 Sports wrote Sunday morning.
"While it probably shouldn't be considered an absolute certainty, it was described as a 'near-done deal' by one source," he added. "Many athletic department sources discuss it like it's already been acknowledged and accepted as happening."
Assuming the report is accurate, and by all indications it is, then that's a tectonic shift on the West Coast. Sure, UCLA has been mocked at times, especially in their less successful modern era, for failing to fill up the Rose Bowl to even a respectable degree. But after 40+ years in the ultimate college football venue, it's still a shocker to see the Bruins potentially leaving.
Logistics behind UCLA's SoFi move
Of course, SoFi Stadium is already fairly busy. For one, two NFL teams already play there, the Los Angeles Rams and Los Angeles Chargers, splitting their Sundays. Meanwhile, a whole host of concerts, shows and other big events carousel through the state-of-the-art sports arena. It looks like UCLA is being added to that list.
Right now, the trek from UCLA's campus to the Rose Bowl is a decent hike from Brentwood, near Santa Monica, along the northern ridge to Pasadena. Meanwhile, SoFi Stadium is actually a much closer trip, in terms of mileage, simplicity and time spent in a car, as it sits in Inglewood a little bit south of the UCLA campus.
Given UCLA's enormous struggles to routinely fill the stadium, its logistical displacement from the actual campus, it makes sense for the Bruins to move to a higher-quality dome that's closer to its actual student body.
Don't worry, though, the Rose Bowl is not going anywhere. College Football Playoff games will continue to be played there, it's just that we'll have to wait for the postseason to revel in its glory, while USC is still likely to play a handful of games there, and you'd think UCLA still makes the occasional trip.
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