Pandemic-Caused Rose Parade Cancellation, Rose Bowl Game Move Pack $200 Million Punch to Local Economy

The loss of Tournament of Roses events caused by the pandemic cost the region hundreds of millions of dollars over the holiday season, according to Chamber of Commerce President/CEO Paul Little.

“In a normal year, both events together generate about $200 million in spending in the local SoCal economy, so the impact is devastating, though not unexpected,” Little told Pasadena Now.

The Rose Parade was canceled and the Rose Bowl Game was relocated to AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Those two events typically generate tourism dollars, tax revenue from local hotels, and some restaurants see their most prosperous quarter of the year based on the money generated during that time.

According to an article appearing on the Sporting News website, the game alone generates about $68 million for the city of Pasadena.

Spending related to the Rose Parade and Rose Bowl Game, according to one estimate, supported the equivalent of 2,062 full-year jobs.

When it comes to jobs lost, most of the employment involved is in the areas of accommodations, food, retail, and entertainment.

“The real economic impact of losing the parade is to the business community in Pasadena and the region,” Pasadena Public Information Officer Lisa Derderian explained in an email.

“The lower wage earners that are paid to set up and take down bleachers, the extra staff hotels, banquet facilities and restaurants hire to accommodate larger crowds and events will all have few earning opportunities,” Derderian said.

“But again, the reality is that many of those jobs or opportunities are already lost because those same locations cannot host any large-scale attended events such as weddings, parties, etc. The tourists that come into town do not just recreate or stay in Pasadena. They go to theme parks, the beach, and other locations. They fill hotels all around Southern California and not just in Pasadena,” she said.

Derderian described Pasadena as a national destination during the holidays.

“Between family vacations, holiday shopping and parade/game attendees, there is significant revenue generated for the hospitality, restaurant, entertainment and sports venues,” she said.

The parade was canceled in July after months of speculation. The decision to move the game to Texas came in the final days of December after it was determined fans and players’ families could not attend, in accordance with Gov. Gavin Newsom’s stay-at-home order.

The city will receive $2 million from the Tournament of Roses, which will be paid in three installments. The final payment won’t be made until 2023.

Little said that the right decision was to cancel the game.

“Not hosting the parade was the right thing to do to safeguard people’s health,” Little said. “The game could easily and safely have been played here, but the governor chose to send it to Texas. Even if it were here, the economic impact would have been minimal as the number of fans allowed would have been a fraction of normal. It would have helped some of the local hotels and maybe restaurants, but retailers would not have felt much of a bump, if any.”

According to former restaurant owner Robin Salzer, his business, Robin’s Woodfire BBQ, would typically see an additional 25% in profit on the days leading up to the game.

“It was a wonderful infusion,” Salzer said. “We weren’t even in Old Pasadena. We were over on the east side in Siberia and we still saw an infusion of cash. It was a nice way to end the year and a great kickoff to the new year.”

Salzer said that this year would have been beneficial for local restaurants because the two teams playing in the game, Alabama and Notre Dame, would have drawn a lot of fans into Pasadena.

Profits from that game would have risen to more than if UCLA or USC had played in the Rose Bowl. That’s because most fans of those two teams would have driven to the city on game day, and many would have left to beat the traffic before the game ended.

The absence of the two events also deeply impacted a much-needed revenue stream from the city’s Total Occupancy Tax, or TOT, which is paid by people who stay at local hotels.

The Pasadena Center Operating Co., which governs the city’s currently closed Convention Center, will not begin to recoup TOT revenue lost to the coronavirus pandemic until fiscal year 2024.