AFAIK, which admittedly is not much in this case, no professional or college football teams lay claim to the Rose Bowl stadium during their regular seasons. I have no idea on soccer or other large-arena sports. It seems like far to large a facility to just be used once a year for a big college football bowlgame, and just be a landmark the rest of the time.
So who uses it, and to what purpose?
Also, if I wanted to try setting a Guinness record, perhaps world’s largest jello mold using the Rose Bowl, who should I contact?
UCLA plays home football games at the Rose Bowl. At least that’s where I think I’ve been going.
The Rose Bowl is also home to the annual “Turkey Tussle” between Muir High and Pasadena High. It usually draws about 10-20,000 people.
There is also a huge swap meet there on Sundays, although that is in the parking lot.
Walter O’Malley investigated using the Rose Bowl as a temporary stadium for the L.A. Dodgers before he could get a new stadium built. It wouldn’t have worked well and seats would have had to have been removed.
The Rose Bowl doesn’t get used a lot for big events because the neighbors, who are almost all extraordinarily wealthy, don’t want it to be used that often. The stadium has very limited access routes and parking. People who live in the area have to have permits to get in and out of their homes.
The stadium is not the most comfortable in the world as it was built to fit 1923 sized people.
However, the stadium has the second prettiest setting of any West Coast football stadium. (I think Berkeley’s Memorial Stadium in Strawberry Canyon is better, but a good case can be made for Husky Stadium in Seattle too.) When the Rose Bowl is played on New Year’s Day at its traditional midafternoon start time, it is breathtaking. The sunset with the San Gabriel Mountains is gorgeous and then the lighting kicks in for a dramatic ending.
Yesterday’s game started after sunset so some of the game’s aesthetic beauty was lost.
As Bobt said, there is a huge swap meet there every year. Even though it’s in the parking lot it brings in a lot of money. Some people make their yearly income just from this one swap meet.
My high school played its home comming game there every year.
Pretty impressive to run out onto that field with all the lights on.
We never could fill the stands though.
Personally, I’m very happy that it’s not often used. I work in Pasadena, very near the stadium and the whole traffic and massive crowds thing is extremely annoying.
I used to feel much the same way when I was a student at UCLA and there was an event at Pauley. The central parking structures would all be commandeered for the event, displacing the students, faculty, and staff who were actually coming there to study, teach, and work.
They also have other random events there. They very infrequently have concerts there. The 1994 Final for the World CUp was played there as was the 1999 Women’s World Cup final.
Well, don’t get me started on that. One Thursday every other fall, the University of Maryland effectively shuts down the campus at noon for a ~7pm ESPN game. I think I may have pitted it in the past. Lemme check… Okay, maybe not. But I SHOULD have.
The ONLY reason it exists is for the same reason that Wrigley Field in Chicago continues to exist, they are both outdated pieces of junk. People with some weird sense of nostalgia seem to think that they are still relevant. They are not. They are both terrible stadiums with poor facilities and bad spectator accomodation.
The Rose Bowl is the only major bowl that still plays its games in its original stadium. The Orange Bowl, the Cotton Bowl and the Sugar Bowl all got rid of their piece of crap stadiums.
The Rose Bowl sucks! But then, according to the traditionalist, no flush toilet can match the ambiance of an outhouse.
So let’s take a reality check. How much revenue for the university did the basketball game generate that day compared to the library?
Hey, I don’t like the current state of college athletics but if you or I are the president of the university we would make the same decision (or we would be out of a job).
I understand why administration does it. But it’s abhorrent that they ignore the fact that it is a school, after all. And with the rolling parking lot closings, many professors have no choice but to cancel classes or else risk their students (and possibly themselves) getting ticketed and towed. Because they’re trying to use a school as a school.
