Tournament of Roses to Cut Staff, Budget

Due to the cancellation of the 2021 Rose Parade, the Tournament of Roses will be forced to reduce staff and cut costs.

“We are sad to share with you that, in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic and our inability to host the 2021 Rose Parade, we have had to make tough decisions regarding Association expenditures, including staffing,” said tournament officials in an email. “As you know, these are unprecedented times, and unfortunately they’ve required us to make difficult decisions in order to ensure the future viability of this Association.”

According to the email the staffing changes are across the board and will “affect every department in the organization.”

The tournament office will only operate Monday through Thursday beginning on July 20.

“The staffing changes include layoffs, furloughs and staff schedule and salary reductions, with each department in the organization being affected,” the tournament said in an email to Pasadena Now.

The Tournament of Roses operating budget will be reduced from $16 million to $6 million. The $6 million will be pulled from the organization’s reserves, the tournament said.

On Wednesday, the tournament announced that it was canceling the iconic Tournament of Roses Parade for the fourth time in the events history and the first time in more than 70 years.

The parade may be the biggest event canceled to curb the spread of the Coronavirus since the pandemic began earlier this year.

“The health and well-being of our parade participants and guests, as well as that of our volunteer members, professional staff and partners, is our number one priority,” said Bob Miller, 2021 President of the Pasadena Tournament of Roses Association. “Obviously this is not what any of us wanted, and we held off on announcing until we were absolutely sure that safety restrictions would prevent us from continuing with planning for 132nd Rose Parade.”

According to the email, more information will be coming in regards to how the changes may impact committees and other tournament members.

Members were urged to bring questions directly to the tournament.

“We know that in an organization as small and family-like as ours, these changes will not be easy,” the email stated. “Please know that we did not arrive at these decisions lightly, and we will without a doubt feel the loss of these team members, each of whom have made valuable and lasting contributions to this Association.”