One Direction Books Rose Bowl for Third Night

Boy band One Direction announced Monday night it has added a third night to its upcoming “Where We Are Tour” concert performances to be held in the  Rose Bowl next September.

Rose Bowl, CEO and General Manager Darryl Dunn said it is the first time any music group ever has performed for three straight nights in the Rose Bowl.

“It’s really amazing,” Dunn said. “It will be a lot of excitement in all of Pasadena for the One Direction days in September.”

The concerts are expected to bring in about $1 million in revenue.

The announcement comes just days after City Manager Michael Beck confirmed the city prevailed in a lawsuit filed by Rose Bowl neighbors to prevent future attempts to host an NFL team in the stadium.

The Council Monday night considered moving forward with another event which could bring 60,000 concertgoers on August 7 and 8 for an as-yet unnamed band of similar caliber.

Winning the lawsuit will make it easier for the Council to plan for more large-scale events at the Rose Bowl in the future. Mayor Bill Bogaard says the court ruling does not change anything in the near future.

“Certainly the Rose Bowl is aware of the concerns that the neighbors have and intends to strike a proper balance on the sense of responsibility to increase revenues and to respect the concerns and the comfort of the neighbors in the area,” Bogaard said.

The August events would bring welcome revenue upwards of $300,000 each night to help supplement the larger-than-expected $180 million investment in the renovation of the Rose Bowl. Although the size of the overruns has not created a a crisis situation, Bogaard says, the city does have a responsibility to consider more revenue-generating events now that the project is substantially complete.

“The cost of the renovation has been higher than we originally anticipated and we are anxious to assure that extra debt is readily amortized and provides additional income,” Bogaard said.

The lawsuit filed in January of 2013 by a coalition of neighborhood groups including Linda Vista-Annandale and San Rafael Neighborhood Associations and the East Arroyo Neighborhood Preservation Committee questioned the accuracy of the city’s environmental study of the impact added large-scale events would have on the Central Arroyo.

A Los Angeles Superior Court judge ruling last Tuesday confirms the accuracy of the report and paves the way for future discussions with an NFL team.

Although the City has now positioned itself to be ready to temporarily host an NFL team in the future, Bogaard says conversations are not likely to occur in 2014.

However, the possibility of a soccer game in 2014 seems far more likely, according to Bogaard.

One route the City is considering to accommodate the concerns of the neighbors as an alternative to NFL games is to arrange annual events that would increase revenue while also giving Rose Bowl neighbors time to plan ahead to make the impact of those events minimal.

“I respect the views of our residents, even if the number of those expressing concern does not represent a significant majority. I think we want to work with those concerns and do everything we can to take them into account,” Bogaard said.