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UCLA Football Season Could Start in September

Bruins could face crosstown rival USC in first home game

Published on Thursday, July 30, 2020 | 1:13 pm
 

According to two reports, UCLA will open its football season on September 19 in Cal against Berkeley.

The Bruins’ first game in the Rose Bowl would be the following week on Sept. 26 against USC.

The remainder of the schedule — which could be truncated with just be conference games— has not been released, but an announcement could come from the PAC-12 as early as Friday according to the BruinReport Online.

Websites dedicated to California football contained similar reports.

The lack of events have devastated Rose Bowl revenue and left RBOC officials scrambling to come up with ways to make money.

According to a staff report in a Finance Committee agenda released two weeks ago, the Rose Bowl Operating Committee is expecting a 25 percent reduction in fans and only about 13,000 fans could attend the games due to social distancing guidelines if fans are allowed inside the stadium at all.

That report said there would be a Rose Bowl Game if the season started in the spring. No mention was made of a Rose Bowl Game if a truncated season started in September.

“We are aware of the schedule and hope we are in a position to host college football this fall,” said Rose Bowl General Manager Darryl Dunn.

In those documents, officials at the iconic stadium said the stadium needed college football.

“Playing college football this fiscal year is critical for the RBOC,” officials said in the report.

UCLA is one the stadium’s primary tenants and has made millions for the stadium.

However, in recent years the team’s struggles on the field have translated to less revenue.

From 2009 to 2018, the Rose Bowl averaged 76,650 fans up from 70,285 for six home games in 2013.

In 2018, the Bruins averaged 52,528 in 2018  for five home games.

If the season does begin September, College Football will follow Major League Baseball and the NBA in restarting.

Both of those leagues are holding games in empty arenas. The NBA kicks off tonight, and is scheduled to play all of its games in Orlando. The MLB plans have been impacted by the Coronavirus, which has forced the cancellation of multiple games this weekend.

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