Court filings in the Rose Bowl relocation dispute show Rams president Kevin Demoff reaching out to UCLA officials about “next year at SoFi,” while the lawsuit argues outside parties interfered with UCLA’s Rose Bowl lease that runs through 2043.
When questions first surfaced about whether UCLA would break its Rose Bowl lease and shift to SoFi Stadium, the university insisted no decision had been made. The court record now suggests a move was edging closer than UCLA’s stance implied.
In litigation tied to the potential relocation. court documents describe a message exchange in which Rams and Kroenke Sports & Entertainment president Kevin Demoff texted UCLA vice chancellor Steve Agostini in August 2025: “good luck tonight. next year at SoFi!” The filings also include messages from February 2025 in which Demoff and Agostini discussed UCLA officials touring SoFi “to see how we would make next season work.”
Demoff’s reply appears in the record: “Yes will make whatever work.”
Those communications sit at the center of a lawsuit that later pulled in Demoff’s employer and SoFi Stadium under an interference theory. alleging outside parties intentionally disrupted the contractual relationship between UCLA and the Rose Bowl.. The legal argument follows a direct line: it’s impermissible to induce a party to break a valid and binding agreement.
UCLA’s lease with the Rose Bowl runs through 2043, and the filings stress that the contract must be honored by any actor tempted to persuade one side to violate its terms. The filing frames the broader principle in business terms too: contracts between two parties must be respected by everyone else.
That thread of interference is not new for Demoff.. The record notes that Demoff previously inserted himself into relocation-related litigation tied to the Rams’ stadium plans.. When Rams owner Stan Kroenke bought the land that became SoFi Stadium. Demoff addressed concerns about a potential move from St.. Louis to L.A.. with statements captured in the record that it’s “not a piece of land that’s any good for a football stadium. ” that there’s a “one-in-million chance” the Rams will move there. and that Kroenke “is still looking at lots of pieces of land around the world right now and none of them are for football teams.”
The St.. Louis dispute ended with the league paying a $790 million settlement.. In the current situation. the Rose Bowl took the fight to court before the Bruins could relocate. a timing difference that the filings suggest could delay SoFi’s ability to take over the Bruins’ schedule.. It also aims to prevent Kroenke from facing another massive payment tied to alleged financial harm from a move.
Taken together. the filings place the August 2025 text about “next year at SoFi” alongside earlier February 2025 messages about touring the stadium “to see how we would make next season work. ” all while the lawsuit’s interference theory hinges on the idea that outside parties tried to pull UCLA toward violating a lease that runs through 2043.
For now, the case keeps the relocation question under judicial scrutiny, with the dispute unfolding before any move could fully reset the Bruins’ stadium plans.
UCLA Rose Bowl SoFi Stadium Kevin Demoff Steve Agostini Kroenke Sports & Entertainment Rose Bowl lease relocation litigation Los Angeles Rams Stan Kroenke texts