City Council to Discuss Tournament of Roses Lawsuit in Closed Session

The City Council will convene in closed session on Monday to discuss a lawsuit filed against the city by the Tournament of Roses Association.

The tournament is suing the city for trademark infringement, unfair competition, false association, slander, and false advertising. 

The two sides are feuding over who owns the rights to the name and trademarks for the Rose Bowl Game.

“This action concerns Defendant’s bad-faith scheme of sowing confusion in the marketplace about whether it owns any rights in the famous Rose Bowl Game and Rose Bowl trademarks as related to the storied game and annual celebration,” the lawsuit states. 

“To be clear, Defendant does not. This action also concerns whether Plaintiff needs Defendant’s consent under the parties’ Master Licensing Agreement (‘MLA’) to host the Rose Bowl Game outside of Pasadena, California if a Force Majeure event occurs. To be clear, Plaintiff does not,” according to the lawsuit.

The College Football Playoff opted to move the Semifinal Game scheduled to be played in the historic stadium between 

Alabama and Notre Dame to Arlington, Texas in December. The move came after Tournament of Roses CEO David Eads twice failed to convince state officials to allow family members of players into the Rose Bowl Stadium during the game, due to COVID-19 guidelines by the state that barred fans from attending the game. 

“It is disappointing that partners who have collaborated for more than 100 years weren’t able to amicably resolve their differences and felt it necessary to hastily resort to legal action,” said Vice Mayor Andy Wilson. “The Rose Bowl has thrived as a joint endeavor, so I am troubled that the tournament now seeks to push the city aside as its long-time partner. The tournament has a tremendous legacy of community-minded leadership, and I would encourage them to take the reins from their disconnected legal advisors.”  

So far, neither the city nor the Tournament of Roses has stated publicly when a deal was reached with the College Football Playoffs (CFP) to allow the Rose Bowl Game name and its associated trademarks to be used by the CFP on New Year’s Day. 

The game logo appeared on the CFP website before the City Council and Eads met in closed session to discuss allowing the use of the name and service marks.

At some point, the relationship turned contentious.

On Dec. 30, each side released separate press releases on the game being moved.

In its press release, the city proclaimed that it “allowed” the Rose Bowl Game to be played in Texas.

“Unprecedented is truly an understatement. That is why the City of Pasadena has agreed to allow the Tournament of Roses to relocate the official Rose Bowl Game in 2021. The Rose Bowl Game will not relocate again from Pasadena unless it is forced to due to a national emergency,” the city statement said. 

Eads claimed the tournament’s rights in the Tournament’s release.

“While the Tournament of Roses has the right to play the Rose Bowl Game in an alternate venue this year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we felt it was important to do so in consultation with the City of Pasadena,” Eads said in a prepared statement. 

In a Jan. 7 letter to the tournament, the city claimed that in the event of a force majeure, the MLA allegedly gives the defendant the right to restrict plaintiffs from hosting the Rose Bowl Game in a  venue other than Rose Bowl Stadium, according to the lawsuit. 

“The CFP and the tournament are free to host a football game anywhere in the country at any time, but it cannot be called the Rose Bowl Game unless it is played on Jan.1 in Pasadena at the Rose Bowl Stadium,” said Mayor Victor Gordo. “That is their contractual obligation and we are going to hold them to that.” 

In correspondence to the City Council, local residents railed against the decision to allow the name to be used in the game played in Texas.

But while local residents were upset about moving the game, people across the country did not seem to mind. 

The game averaged 18.9 million viewers, and combined with the 19.1 million viewers who watched the Sugar Bowl between Clemson and Ohio State, ESPN had its third most-watched day in the network’s history. 

The high numbers could embolden the CFP in the future if another emergency leads the organization to again consider moving the game.

The Rose Bowl is scheduled to host another semifinal game on Jan. 1, 2024.

“The last time of that I checked the legal name is ‘Pasadena Tournament of Roses Association.’ And this organization has benefited from the city of Pasadena generosity, the people, the Wrigley mansion, Colorado Boulevard, the Rose Bowl name, field, and facilities And most importantly the ‘Pasadena; brand,” said Councilmember Tyron Hampton. “They sold the rights to the name without even asking the people of Pasadena — most people found out by watching ESPN. And somehow they turn around and sue us and [act] like we did them wrong.”