PASADENA, Calif. – Rows of tents filled the Rose Bowl’s sprawling parking lots, covering a combination of terrain from aging asphalt to dirt fields and a revamped golf course every other Saturday night during the season. Each tent contained a story and a group of noisy tailgaters eagerly awaiting their beloved Bruins.
The Rose Bowl has been the home of UCLA football since 1982, but that home of more than four decades is under threat as the university is in talks to move UCLA football to SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California. For so many devoted Bruin faithful who drink and laugh under their ease, a move to a stadium would not only be the end of an era, it would be the death of a tradition.
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Papo Fernandez has been attending UCLA games since he was a child, when his godfather would bring him. Today, 20 years later, his friends and family still flock to the Rose Bowl to greet and cheer on their team. Hours before the game, Fernandez and his group posed for a video outside the stadium and he chanted “No, don’t go,” a popular rallying cry for fans opposed to the possible move.
“Don’t get me wrong, SoFi is a nice stadium, but it’s more for an NFL stadium. I don’t know. I don’t see how they create a college atmosphere there, because it kind of takes away from the tradition,” Fernandez said.
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Tailgating is one of the Rose Bowl’s most beloved traditions. Fans who have been attending games for decades, like Fernandez, have built a community within their weekly get-togethers, and the surrounding grounds become a carnival of barbecue and music, card games and corn hole, blue and gold. The fear for many of these fans is that a transplant from the sprawling open space surrounding the stadium, flanked by the San Gabriel Mountains and bathed in autumn sunshine, to the concrete and steel engineering of SoFi Stadium and the bustling spaces of Inglewood, would rob them of their community.
“It’s become a family tradition for us, and so moving to SoFi, there’s just no comparison to what tailgate is. It’s almost like a family reunion when we come out here,” Erika Zarate said. “And I don’t think it will be the same if we go that far.
UCLA Bruins quarterback Luke Duncan (12) runs out for smoke before the game against the Washington Huskies at Rose Bowl Stadium on November 22, 2025 in Pasadena, California.
UCLA Bruins quarterback Luke Duncan (12) runs out for smoke before the game against the Washington Huskies at Rose Bowl Stadium on November 22, 2025 in Pasadena, California.
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Zarate and Robert Carillo, of Whittier, have been season ticket holders for 20 years. Their tent, adorned with lights and a television with fried meat on a flat roof, is one of several welcoming islands set up outside the stadium. Each tent may be owned by strangers, but Bruins fans quickly become friends. Carillo and Zareta quickly got to know their tailgate neighbors, Trisha, Jim and Josh Krug, and soon the whole group was sitting around the table playing cards.
“We may not know each other, but when we come here, we feel like family. We feel like once we leave the Rose Bowl for SoFi, it won’t be the same. It’s very commercialized,” Carillo said.
The Krugs have been season ticket holders since 1988 and their son Josh practically grew up in the Rose Bowl. Now, they don’t know if they will renew those tickets if the team moves to SoFi.
UCLA Bruins running back Jalen Berger (0) dives while getting tackled during the game against the Washington Huskies at Rose Bowl Stadium on November 22, 2025 in Pasadena, California.
Jordan Carroll – La Tribune Sportive
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UCLA Bruins running back Jalen Berger (0) dives while getting tackled during the game against the Washington Huskies at Rose Bowl Stadium on November 22, 2025 in Pasadena, California.
“Our first Christmas card was of him being held by eight cheerleaders and pom poms all around when he was born,” Trisha Krug said.
Shawn Tippets, of Long Beach, has his own family history at the Rose Bowl.
He began going to games with his stepfather and friends, all from the Wilmington neighborhood of Los Angeles. Tippets even had a UCLA Wilmington banner hanging from his easy-up in homage to those origins. The move to Inglewood has him worried about the state of UCLA’s tailgating, with the possibility of tighter time constraints and limited space. The Rose Bowl allows people to show up six hours before the game, but SoFi can only allow four hours of pregame festivities.
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“The tailgate is definitely going to be different, and that’s one of the things we’re looking forward to…That’s why we’re celebrating tonight, because it might be the last one,” Tippets said.
One highway or another
Myriad factors factor into UCLA’s decision to move to SoFi Stadium, but the one that has been discussed the most is travel. The Bruins have long been criticized for having a football stadium more than an hour’s drive from campus.
UCLA Bruins defensive back Kanye Clark (1) celebrates during the game against the Washington Huskies at Rose Bowl Stadium on November 22, 2025 in Pasadena, California.
Jordan Carroll – La Tribune Sportive
UCLA Bruins defensive back Kanye Clark (1) celebrates during the game against the Washington Huskies at Rose Bowl Stadium on November 22, 2025 in Pasadena, California.
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Still, SoFi Stadium itself is a highway or two away from Westwood, and some aren’t convinced the meager benefits of travel are worth the sacrifice of tradition.
“It’s, you know, 10 miles closer, but in terms of actually driving in Los Angeles, it’s a shuttle. Regardless, it’s not going to be on campus,” Josh Krug said. “The students won’t care…it’s the same experience for them,” Josh Krug said.
The game inside the Rose Bowl may not have lived up to the expectations of the fans outside, as UCLA lost it 48-14 to Washington, but regardless of the outcome, the Bruins fans who live in the parking lot will forever cherish their time at the Rose Bowl, even if it’s the end.
“No matter what, we’re going to follow the Bruins and continue to support them, but it will definitely be the end of an era,” Tippet said.
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“I’m kind of trying to contain it right now, but there will be times where I get a little emotional if the move happens,” Fernandez said.
