LOS ANGELES — Ross Neiderhaus grew up hustling down from the Linda Vista neighborhood in Pasadena, trying to catch the noise, the excitement of UCLA victories such as its 13-9 triumph over USC in 2006.
Liam Blutman became fervently obsessed with the Bruins as a child, cherishing every moment at the Rose Bowl, which he calls “the greatest stadium in the world,” despite never attending UCLA as a student. He now often shouts the Bruins from the rooftops on Barstool programs, where he currently works as a social media specialist.
“Our teams might not be good, we might not be competitive, but we’ll always have the Rose Bowl,” Blutman said.
Evan Lovett, the host of “L.A. in a Minute,” an online show that focuses on the histories and legacies of Los Angeles, spent his early 20s in the press box of the Rose Bowl as the Daily Bruin’s sports editor. He now shares tailgates at the adjacent Brookside Golf Course with his in-laws – a tradition keeping his alma mater close to his chest.
Related: Swanson: UCLA bailing on Rose Bowl for SoFi? Nothing is sacred
And Peter Duyshart, who once led UCLA’s student section “The Den” as its president, oversaw student attendance highs as then-coach Jim Mora brought in 75,000-plus fans per game during the 2014-2015 season. The excitement was palpable and the Rose Bowl was “buzzing,” Duyshart said.
All four Bruin fans – three of whom are alumni – share a common thread: a rejection of UCLA’s alleged attempt to move football games from the Rose Bowl to SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, where the Los Angeles Rams and Los Angeles Chargers play their NFL games.
“The Rose Bowl is just college football, right?” said Duyshart, who is 31 and lives in Washington D.C., working in government and public policy. “It’s tradition, and it was something that UCLA had that made it unique, despite up-and-down football seasons over the years, from the tailgating, from the sunsets, from the epic scenery and all the history that goes on at the Rose Bowl.”
Duyshart added: “I think leaving it so abruptly, essentially in the middle of the night, is really upsetting.”
Related: Larry Wilson: Bruins bailing on the Rose Bowl is a botched play
Two weeks ago, the City of Pasadena and the Rose Bowl Operating Co. filed a lawsuit against UCLA and the University of California Regents, attempting to hold UCLA to its lease at the Rose Bowl that would keep the Bruins in Pasadena until the conclusion of the 2043 season (through June 30, 2044).
UCLA then responded in a statement Oct. 30 that it was evaluating long-term arrangements for home football games and that no decision had been made.
“It always felt like, for better or worse, that the Rose Bowl would be UCLA’s home,” said Blutman, 27. “That’s because some of us would eventually, one day, like to see a stadium on campus and everything. But parting with the Rose Bowl would always be as bittersweet as anything could ever be. … For our hosts to sue us is pretty defeating.”
On Monday, the City of Pasadena and the Rose Bowl Operating Co. filed a motion for a preliminary injunction and temporary restraining order against UCLA on the matter. On Wednesday morning, Judge James C. Chalfant of the Los Angeles Superior Court denied the request, saying that the RBOC and the city did not prove an emergency that would require the TRO or preliminary injunction.
Lovett, 47, said he understands what’s enticing about SoFi Stadium. Lovett himself has called the Inglewood stadium, which opened in 2020, “the eighth wonder in the world.” The UCLA alumnus (1995-2000) said that he would love to see the Bruins move to a billion-dollar, futuristic stadium, going all in on football by hiring Nick Saban – who Lovett admitted was more than unlikely – and investing resources upon resources into the football program.
The Los Angeles native said he understands the caveats of the Rose Bowl. Lovett said he’s the first to complain about the seats, the treks from the middle of long aisles to get to concourses, and so on. Unless UCLA guarantees all the lofty asks that he would want to see from the university, the efforts to relocate would be for naught, he said.
“Now, the shot of that happening is one in a million, so I think alternately, that would rip out the soul of the program to leave the Rose Bowl,” Lovett said. “It’s one of those decisions where, if you do this, it has to work. And if it doesn’t, then there needs to be ramifications for the people who made this decision.”
If you were to make the case for SoFi Stadium, one positive could be the distance. Pasadena is a multiple-freeway, 25-plus-mile trek from Westwood compared to a trip down the 405 Freeway that would cut the travel distance potentially in half.
Neiderhaus, who now lives in Venice and works in tech sales, said any move from Pasadena to Inglewood won’t marginally affect the difference in attendance.
“I don’t really see what this obsession is with getting it marginally closer just to the Westside, because it’s not like all UCLA football fans live in Westwood,” said Neiderhaus, who has attended three of the five home games in 2025.
UCLA has averaged 37,099 fans across five games through the 2025 season, more than the albeit small sample size of the Bruins’ 2023 Los Angeles Bowl at Sofi Stadium, which had an attendance of 32,780. Lovett attended that bowl victory over Boise State.
“I’m going to guess they said it was over 30 (thousand), but there was no way there was 30-plus,” Lovett said.
The Bruins haven’t averaged more than 60,000 fans in the Rose Bowl since 2016, the second-to-last year of the Mora era.
Neiderhaus, a former UCLA track and field athlete who competed from 2016 to 2017, gave credit to the student attendance since the fall quarter began in Westwood; a game that was rewarded with UCLA’s historic upset of then-No. 7 Penn State. All four agreed – when UCLA is competitive, fans show up.
UCLA’s potential departure from the Rose Bowl to SoFi Stadium supersedes the university’s decision to join the Big Ten Conference from the Pac-12 in June 2022. The Bruins began competing in the Big Ten during the 2024 football season.
“I don’t think any UCLA fan wants to go to SoFi,” Blutman said. “I think this is a poor business decision and another decision in college football that is incorrect.”