Pasadena, Calif., took an economic hit when this season’s Rose Bowl moved to Arlington, Texas, because of COVID-19 restrictions, but the city is not taking a total loss.
The Pasadena Tournament of Roses will pay the city of Pasadena $2 million as part of an agreement to move Friday’s game as a one-time situation, The Athletic reported. The payout is considered “a gift” after economic impact studies estimate the Rose Bowl game and parade have a $200 million impact on Pasadena, a city of 142,000 people.
Pasadena has hosted the game since 1902 except for 1942, when the outset of World War II prompted a site change to Durham, N.C., out of fear the Japanese could target the Rose Bowl.
The agreement, signed Tuesday, is about more than the move, but also the use of “Rose Bowl,” the name of Pasadena stadium and the game.
“I remain opposed,” Pasadena Chamber of Commerce president and CEO Paul Little wrote The Athletic.
“I expect there are financial considerations that I am not aware of, but feel the use of the Rose Bowl name this year and under these circumstances is not in the best interest of Pasadena or the Tournament of Roses. I’m also concerned that a precedent will be set so that the NCAA or College Football Playoff powers-that-be think they will be free to take the Rose Bowl name with them if they choose to have a New Year game at SoFi Stadium or elsewhere.”
Little is referring to the Los Angeles Rams’ new SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif., and knows there is precedent from the Cotton Bowl’s 2010 move to the Dallas Cowboys’ stadium in Arlington, Texas.
The “Granddaddy of them all” basically will become the family member joining holiday festivities by Zoom on Friday, when ESPN will make mention of the Pasadena traditions during the national semifinal game between Alabama and Notre Dame.
Add comment