Letters Reveal Deteriorating Relationship Between the City and the Tournament of Roses After CFP Decided to Move Game

[UPDATED] According to documents obtained by Pasadena Now, attorneys for the city claim Pasadena officials learned of plans to move the Rose Bowl Game to Texas during the broadcast of a UCLA game in December, but later discovered that the Tournament of Roses Association had been discussing the move “for months.”

“The City was only notified that the game was being pulled from the Rose Bowl Stadium and moved to AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas – and would be called ‘The Rose Bowl Game’ – during the December 19 UCLA vs. Stanford football game that was then underway, without spectators in attendance, at the Rose Bowl Stadium,” according to a Jan. 7 letter from the Los Angeles-based law firm Sheppard Mullin, which is representing the city.

According to the letter from attorneys for the tournament, a representative with the organization stated that there was a crawl on the bottom of the broadcast stating that the Rose Bowl Game was being moved. That same day Tournament of Roses Executive Director David Eads said in a press statement, “[W]e remain confident that a game could have been played at the Rose Bowl Stadium, as evident in the other collegiate and professional college games taking place in the region.”

The announcement to move the game appeared in local and national media outlets the next day.

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.

“On Monday, December 21, City personnel and I and one of my partners had a Zoom call with Christianne F. Kerns of Hahn & Hahn LLP, counsel for TOR. During that conversation, Ms. Kerns admitted that TOR had been talking with the CFP ‘for the last couple of months’ about moving the CFP Game, as ‘The Rose Bowl Game,’ out of Pasadena. TOR kept that critical information from the City until December 19 — just thirteen days before the game was to be played.”

If the two sides were in discussions to move the game “months” in advance, then those discussions predated a Dec. 5 request by the tournament to Gov. Gavin Newsom for a waiver that would have allowed fans to attend the game in the Rose Bowl stadium. The reason that was given for moving the game was Newsom’s health order, which did not allow fans to attend sporting events.

The relationship went bad after the tournament claimed ownership of the name of the Rose Bowl Game and its associated trademarks and logos.

Earlier this month, the Tournament of Rose filed a lawsuit against the city for trademark infringement, unfair competition, false association, slander, and false advertising.

The City Council was set to discuss the lawsuit in closed session during its meeting Monday.

The letters, five in total, reveal an acrimonious relationship with threats of court action dating back to December.

In the first letter, dated Dec. 27 and signed by A. John P. Mancini of Meyer Brown and cc’d to Eads, Mancini warned attorneys for the city not to contact CFP, ESPN, or the universities playing in the contest and hoped the city would sign an amendment guaranteeing a $2 million payment from the tournament to the city.

“Accordingly, we hope that, after receiving this letter, the City will reconsider its positions and adopt our client’s revisions to a potential 2021 amendment of the parties’ license agreement … And given the City’s prior statements, we seek assurances that no one acting on the City’s behalf will contact our client’s business partners at ESPN, the CFP, or any universities playing in the CFP semifinal game. Otherwise, our client stands ready to enforce all of its rights against the City, and to seek to recover all damages caused by the City.”

The amendment was dated Dec. 29, just three days before the game, and signed by City Manager Steve Mermell, Tournament of Roses President Robert Miller, and Eads.

City Attorney Michelle Beal Bagneris and City Clerk Mark Jomsky also signed the document. Jomsky signed on Dec. 30 Lawyers for the tournament also accused the city of improperly seeking money and accommodations from the tournament.
Lawyers for the tournament said those efforts were neither lawful nor well-taken and called them shortsighted.

“Indeed, it is in everyone’s interests, including the City’s, to keep the Rose Bowl game name linked with the College Football Playoffs. As your client knows, the Rose Bowl Events annually bring nearly $200 million in economic impact to the region, including $47 million in direct annual spending in the City of Pasadena,” states the letter from the attorneys for the tournament.

“While current circumstances prevent staging these events in Pasadena in 2021, we must collectively do all that we can to ensure that the CFP, broadcasters, and the public continue to view the Rose Bowl Game as one of college football’s marquee matchups, otherwise we risk losing the rights to host a college football playoff game in the future.”

In a letter to Pasadena Now, Eads explained the tournament had ongoing conversations with the city of Pasadena in the month of December, up to Saturday, Dec. 19, with concerns about the Rose Bowl Game and COVID-19 in Southern California. On Tuesday, Dec. 15, the CFP issued a statement – “At the moment the Rose Bowl Game will be played in Pasadena at the Rose Bowl Stadium.”

“The Tournament of Roses, based on this release, had every intent on hosting the Rose Bowl Game at the Rose Bowl Stadium and was planning to do so,” Eads wrote.

The tournament, Eads said, had conversations with Mayor Victor Gordo on Friday, Dec. 18 and Saturday, Dec. 19, about the CFP’s concerns with COVID and the possibility that the CFP would move the game. The CFP notified the tournament on Saturday, Dec. 19 that they were moving the game to Arlington, Texas. The tournament then had conversations with the city that afternoon about a release announcing the movement of the Rose Bowl Game to Texas.

“Most importantly,” Eads wrote, “Pasadena is the home of the Rose Bowl Game and it will always be played in the iconic Rose Bowl Stadium. The move of the 2021 game was due to extraordinary circumstances caused by the pandemic, similar to other major sporting events affected by COVID-19. The Rose Bowl Game will return to the Rose Bowl Stadium in 2022 and we can’t wait to be back home.”