Rose Bowl Moved To Texas Is Another Blow To California Gov. Newsom

College Football Playoffs Semifinal Between Alabama And Notre Dame To Be Played In Dallas Instead Of Pasadena

By Kevin Wilkerson, PubClub.com California Editor

Published Dec. 20, 2000

The Rose Bowl – and California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s unbending and restrictive COVID-19 policy – has been intercepted.

The “grandaddy of them all” has been moved out of California and relocated to Jerry Jones’ stadium outside of Dallas, Texas.  This year’s game is one of the two College Football Playoffs semifinals and matches two of the sports’ most storied schools, Alabama and Notre Dame.

This is due to the fact that sports events in California can only be played with zero fans in the stands and the playoff committee – at the complaint of the coaches – wanted at a minimum the family members of the coaches and players be able to attend the game. The Rose Bowl was either unwilling or unable to bend the restrictions just that little bit and so the game will take place in “Jerry’s World.”

So the governor’s COVID-19 rules have cost California one of its prized events and Los Angeles its signature New Year’s Day showcase.

It is another blow to Newsom, who has faced lawsuits from businesses, forced re-openings prompting counter measures by his office and so much anger from residents a recall petition has attracted nearly a million signatures.

Only once has the Rose Bowl not been played in Pasadena. That was during World War II when a West Coast blackout caused the game to be moved; it was played a Duke University’s Wallace Wade Stadium.

In a further move sure to infuriate purists, the game will still be called the Rose Bowl. Capacity at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, will be 16,000.