As UCLA closes in on a move to the newly minted SoFi Stadium from the mature Rose Bowl, according to an early November report by 247 Sports’ Bruin Report Online, students, alumni and community members are torn.

Some welcome the switch to a stadium roughly half as far from campus as the team’s current spot. Others are dumbfounded by the team leaving a historic venue that it has occupied since 1982.

So they wonder — could this be a precursor to the Bruins building an on-campus football stadium?

While experts told The Sporting Tribune that playing at SoFi Stadium would have pros and cons, they largely agreed that an on-campus site is highly unlikely. Many of them said that SoFi offers amenities and proximity to campus that the Rose Bowl can not match, despite its lack of comparable history.

Adjunct Prof. of Accounting at UCLA’s Anderson School of Management, Eric Sussman, said that UCLA has to live with the downsides of being one of the few Division I programs without playing football on campus or at a stadium steps away because there is little parking, public transportation, land, and neighborhood support.

“UCLA will never get a stadium on campus,” Sussman said. “That’s a pipe dream. That ship sailed eons ago.”

$\"Nov$

Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

Nov 8, 2025; Pasadena, California, USA; UCLA Bruins running back Jaivian Thomas (21) runs the ball against the Nebraska Cornhuskers during the second half at the Rose Bowl.

As the Los Angeles Times reported in 2022, UCLA explored building a stadium on campus in 1965. While playing at the Coliseum, Chancellor Franklin D. Murphy publicized a $6.5 million, 44,000-seat stadium on the hillside west of the student athletic fields.

But the proposal was met with fierce backlash from students who opposed new incidental fees being used to fund the project, and from community members who worried about parking and noise, according to the Times. When it failed, the University pivoted to building Drake Stadium, a track-and-field stadium that seats 11,700.

Roger Noll, a professor emeritus of economics at Stanford, said that when UCLA initially considered an on-campus stadium, the prospects of completing it were much higher, but that proposal failed. Since then, further development has occurred, making a proposal unlikely today.

Noll added that even if UCLA could overcome the hurdle of community opposition, the land is too expensive to justify building a stadium.

“Los Angeles County doesn’t need yet another football stadium,” Noll said. “From a societal welfare point of view, there’s already more stadiums than really are needed. So, it makes no sense to build a new one, no matter where you put it.”

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Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

May 11, 2017; Los Angeles, CA, USA; General overall view of Drake Stadium on the campus of UCLA. the facility is a proposed track and field practice site for the 2024 Los Angeles Olympic Games.

Multiple experts also noted that football stadiums are often underutilized compared to basketball arenas, for example, due to their lack of adaptability and short seasons, with about seven home games a season.

Peter Boumgarden, the Director of the Koch Family Center for Family Enterprise at WashU’s Olin Business School, said that while the returns on stadiums are weak, the dynamics of colleges can make them worth it, in some instances. If he were a chancellor, he would consider how an on-campus stadium could enhance the student experience.

Boumgarden said that an on-campus stadium could bring in more donations and money that the University wouldn’t have brought in otherwise. But the projected amount of such funds would inform his choice, if he were a decision-maker.

Various design choices can also be made to increase the social return on a stadium, such as involving small business vendors or making the space adaptable for concerts, other sports and various events.

“If I end up having a brand new stadium, it’s possible that that activates the alumni donor base, and they’re really excited about this, and they love coming back as alum on the campus, and, and as a result, because they’re back on campus, the likelihood of them, when asked to be able to fund the school, when reached out for the advancement, starts to increase over time,” Boumgarden said.

With an on-campus stadium move unlikely, SoFi Stadium still offers an experience that might be appealing, Sussman said.

Announced attendance this season at the Rose Bowl for UCLA has been around 35,000 and tarps were installed ahead of the 2021 season to cover large parts of the stadium, lowering its capacity. This has been a drop-off from the early Rose Bowl days, when the Bruins frequently played before announced crowds of over 50,000.

As UCLA’s attendance dwindles, Sussman said the nostalgia and history of the Rose Bowl are less relevant to young fans and recruits. He noted that a high school talent might be more inclined to play at SoFi Stadium, which has more modern technology.

When UCLA originally moved to the Rose Bowl, it was unpopular with then-coach Terry Donahue. But it didn’t take long before UCLA was playing in front of swathes of spectators. However, without large crowds, Sussman said the Rose Bowl cannot compete with a venue like SoFi Stadium.

Perhaps SoFi could follow a similar timeline to that of the Rose Bowl.

“Getting to the Rose Bowl (is) like sailing to Europe in the 19th century,” Sussman said. “You just need a lot of time. It’s a two-and-a-half-hour round trip, and we’re not very good ... (SoFi will) be closer, better amenities.”

$\"May$

Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

May 10, 2017; Pasadena CA, USA; General overall view of the Rose Bowl. The stadium is the proposed soccer venue for the 2024 Los Angeles Olympic Games.

DePaul Prof. Joseph Schwieterman, the Director of the Sustainable Urban Development Program, said that UCLA doesn’t have an ideal option on the table. The Rose Bowl is too far from campus, SoFi Stadium lacks character and a campus project is virtually impossible.

So, they just have to deal with the situation, he said, and only explore an on-campus stadium if they feel they can’t adequately recruit and build a winning program under current conditions.

“There isn’t an arms race to build the best stadium,” Schwieterman said. “New stadiums remain (a) rarity.”

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