Kroenke Sports & Entertainment LLC and Stadco LA LLC have joined the UC Regents in asking a judge to compel arbitration of the Rose Bowl Operating Committeeâs lawsuit concerning the dispute over UCLAâs contract to play at the historic venue.
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The RBOC and the city of Pasadena contend in their three contractual claims that UCLA is wrongfully exploring options for a new home football venue, specifically SoFi Stadium in Inglewood.
In court papers filed Monday with Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Joseph Lipner, the Kroenke-Stadco lawyers say the RBOCâs claim against their client is âpredicated entirelyâ on the contractual claims against UCLA and the UC Regents.
âUnder controlling California law, a signatory to an arbitration agreement that brings a claim against a nonsignatory premised on that agreement is bound by arbitration,â according to the Kroenke-Stadcoâs attorneysâ court papers.
The Kroenke-Stadco defendants were added as defendants in an amended complaint filed Dec. 4, alleging that the UC Regents and the Kroenke-Stadco parties explored the possibility of relocating UCLAâs home football games to SoFi Stadium allegedly in breach of an agreement. A hearing on the UC Regentsâ and the Kroenke-Stadcoâs motions to compel arbitration is set for Jan. 22.
The suit originally filed Oct. 29 seeks to enforce the terms of a lease agreement the plaintiff claims locks UCLA into playing football at the venue until 2044. According to the lawsuit, UCLA has expressed its intent âto abandon the Rose Bowl Stadium and relocate its home football games to SoFi Stadium in Inglewood.â
âThis is not only a clear break of the contract that governs the partiesâ relationship, but it is also a profound betrayal of trust, of tradition and of the very community that helped build UCLA football,â the lawsuit states.