City Files Motions Asking Court to Dismiss Tournament of Roses Lawsuit

Attorneys for the city on Tuesday filed motions in United States District Court to dismiss all claims against the City alleged by the Pasadena Tournament of Roses in a lawsuit filed in early February.

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.

“The City and Tournament have a long-standing Master License Agreement wherein each party recognizes the trademark rights of the other,” the city’s statement reads.  

“Rather, the Tournament’s lawsuit is about money and the desire of the Tournament to have flexibility to move the Rose Bowl Game out of its long-time home in Pasadena. The Agreement between the City and the Tournament prohibits the Tournament from selling its rights to the Rose Bowl Game to the highest bidder, and then moving the Rose Bowl Game out of Pasadena. The facts of this year’s Rose Bowl Game lay bare the Tournament’s sole pursuit of dollars and nothing more.”

Tournament officials say they sought several waivers that would have allowed the game to be played in the Rose Bowl.

The relationship turned contentious after the College Football Playoffs decided to move the game to Arlington, Texas. 

The Tournament promised to gift the city $2 million over three years. 

Attorneys for the city say officials discovered the game was moving and would retain the rights to the Rose Bowl Game name on a crawl during a televised UCLA Game.

The Tournament says it has sole ownership of the name and service marks and is only suing to reaffirm its rights and not for money.

But on Tuesday the city said that although the Tournament insists that this litigation “is not about moving the Rose Bowl Game out of Pasadena” the legal complaint demonstrates just the opposite. 

“The Tournament wants a court of law to assure it that it can move the Rose Bowl Game. It is an attempt by the Tournament to ask the Court to allow it to redraft the Master License Agreement for future, hypothetical events that might never happen. The fact is, the current agreement between the parties does not allow the Rose Bowl Game to be played anywhere but in Pasadena for any reason, unless the City consents, like it did this year as a good-faith partner during extraordinary times.”

But according to attorney Kent R. Raygor, the Tournament and the College Football Playoffs (CFP) had been in discussion to move the game and retain the Rose Bowl Game name for some time.

Last month, Tournament of Roses President Robert Miller told Pasadena Now that the Tournament does not plan to sell the game to the highest bidder.

“There has never been during my time since 2014 [when Miller joined the Tournament’s Executive Committee] a discussion that ever contemplated relocating the game from Pasadena or the stadium. The Rose Bowl and the Rose Parade are synonymous with the city of Pasadena,” said Miller, who moved to Pasadena with his family in 1969. “[The Tournament] would never ever consider it unless there was a force majeure that had to do with public health and safety issues.”

The city accused the Tournament of attempting to deny the Mayor and city officials their First Amendment rights to speak to the press and to the Mayor’s constituents on a matter of fundamental public interest by claiming that Mayor Victor Gordo’s comment that, “The football game belongs to the City of Pasadena and the people of Pasadena” is an infringement of a trademark. 

“It is a baseless and reckless claim to make, seeking to chill the City’s speech on a matter of public interest.”

Despite the devolving relationship both sides maintain they are looking forward to 2022 when the Rose Bowl Game and the Tournament of Roses Parade are scheduled to be held in Pasadena. 

“It is our continued hope that the parties can resolve this dispute amicably, outside of the judicial system, as should have happened in the first place,” the city said on Tuesday. “The City will aggressively defend its rights in this litigation and expects that the Tournament will honor its contractual promise to the City, its residents, and the hundreds of volunteers that make New Year’s Day special in Pasadena that the Rose Bowl Game will be played in the Rose Bowl Stadium where it belongs. The City and Tournament have a parade and a game to host on New Year’s Day 2022, which will hopefully symbolize a return to normal. This lawsuit is a needless, meritless and destructive distraction from that work.” 

A spokesperson for the Tournament of Roses told Pasadena Now Tuesday evening that Tournament officials had not yet seen the City’s statement and did not immediately provide further comment.