July 2024 Newsletter
July 1, 2024
Dear Legacy Family,
Happy Summer! As your barbecues and vacation plans continue to heat up with the temperatures, stay safe, have fun, and find your own time to relax these next few weeks.
It’s hard to believe it, but we are already halfway through the year, just a couple of short months until college football kicks off, and six months until the beloved Rose Bowl Game®, which will be a College Football Playoff Quarterfinal matchup on New Year’s Day.
Here are some quick, exciting updates for you on things happening in and around the Stadium and with the Legacy Foundation as it rolls through the summer months.
RECORD-BREAKING SOCCER RETURNS ON JULY 4: As the Euros continue the global soccer schedule, the major event schedule at the Rose Bowl Stadium shifts towards soccer, as well, as the El Trafico rivalry of Major League Soccer returns to America’s Stadium on Independence Day – July 4. The match between the LA Galaxy and LAFC, which is always one of the most hotly contested and anticipated, shattered the single-game MLS attendance record last season. Following the rivalry, fans, and the surrounding community will be treated to a fireworks show that outshines all others on the West Coast as one of the largest in the State of California.
ARCHIE GRIFFIN GETS BRONZED – Thanks to Legacy donors from around the country, legendary All-American running back and the only two-time winner of the Heisman Trophy, Archie Griffin, will get a statue at America’s Stadium. The statue dedication ceremony is free and open to the public and begins at 11am on Saturday, August 17th.
Archie has become a special friend and key supporter of the Legacy Foundation over the years, so we are excited for this honor of his incredible legacy as a football player and a person – we hope you can join us and see how incredible he continues to be as he gives back to his communities in so many ways, like his Archie Griffin Endowment Fund for Olympic Sports, which supports undergraduate student-athletes at Ohio State.
Griffin, named the Rose Bowl Game’s® All-Century Player by the Tournament of Roses, will be the Rose Bowl Stadium’s fifth statue joining Jackie Robinson, the 1999 Team USA Women’s World Cup Champions, Keith Jackson and Terry Donahue. A first for Archie, an exact replica will also be gifted by Legacy to another historic venue – Ohio Stadium in Columbus, Ohio for display by Ohio State Athletics.
OLYMPICS PLANNING CONTINUES FOR 2028 – With the Olympic Trials front and center while Team USA fills out its roster to compete for the United States at the Paris Games this month, planning and preparation continues at the Rose Bowl as the LA28 Games are just four short years away.
Pasadena’s iconic venue will welcome the semifinals and finals of both men’s and women’s soccer during the 2028 Olympic Games. America’s Stadium also hosted the Olympics in 1932 (track cycling) and 1984 (soccer) and will become the only venue in the world to have hosted two World Cups and three Olympic Games.
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Pictured Above: The site of the 2024 Olympics Opening Ceremonies on the Seine River as seen from the Eiffel Tower (left); The 2024 Olympics carpool lanes, as seen all around Paris (right)
On a recent vacation to Europe last week, my family and I had the opportunity to view and visit some of the Paris venues for the upcoming 2024 Games. The Parisians were incredibly excited as final preparations continued. Here are some photos that my family took of the Olympic presence in Paris, including the Olympic Rings on the Eiffel Tower (what a cool spot!), the Olympic Beach Volleyball Stadium (as seen from the top of the Tower), and something fun that we can all understand in Los Angeles…. The Olympic Carpool Lane
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Pictured Above: The Olympic Rings on the iconic Eiffel Tower (left); the Olympic Beach Volleyball Stadium, built just below the Eiffel Tower as its backdrop as seen from the top of the Eiffel Tower (right)
ROSE BOWL INSTITUTE & CHRISTINA MAUSER FOUNDATION AWARD SCHOLARSHIPS – As the school year ended just a few weeks ago, The Christina Mauser Foundation yet again funded some valuable scholarships within the Rose Bowl Institute to be awarded to deserving area high school students. Matt and The Christina Mauser Foundation began funding scholarships through the RBI back in 2020 as some of its most important during the year.
Congratulations to Hailey Clingan (Edison High School recipient), Zoie Lamkin (California resident recipient), Isabelle Martins (National recipient), and Harlee Thomas (National Hispanic recipient) for being awarded the scholarships this year!
Pictured are this year’s Mauser Foundation scholarship winners,
In addition to the generosity of The Christina Mauser Foundation, multiple scholarships are given by the Institute each year through its Women’s Empowerment Symposium platform and other free programming.
Congratulations to Kristilyn Hetherington, Ryann Herman, and Tamera Carter for winning this year’s Women’s Empowerment Symposium Scholarships!
The opportunities are generously funded by key donors to the Rose Bowl Institute such as the
Shuster Family Foundation, the Larry and Helen Hoag Foundation, the Fitzberg Foundation, and many, many more!
For more information on scholarship opportunities through the Rose Bowl Institute, please email the RBI’s Director of Programs, Lauren Hall, at lhall@rosebowlstadium.com .
HISTORIC STADIUM CAUCUS SOCIAL –
The Historic Stadium Caucus, formed and led by the
Rose Bowl Stadium in Fall of 2023, held a social event at the NACDA Conference in mid-June (the largest
professional development conference for college
athletics departments). The social welcomed current and prospective members to learn more about the Caucus.
Currently, 23 historic college football stadiums are Caucus members from Pasadena, to Baton Rouge, to
Madison, to Happy Valley, to East Lansing, to Gainesville, to Seattle, to Iowa City, to New Haven, and so many more.
The Caucus brings together a bipartisan group of Congress members and historic collegiate stadiums to work on preserving their legacy and protecting their integrity across America. The
group works together collaboratively to work towards enhancing venue capabilities, so they can continue hosting world-class sports and entertainment events for generations to come.
ROSE BOWL STADIUM ENTERS AS SPONSOR TO THE INAUGURAL SEICON – The inaugural Sports Entertainment and Innovation Conference (SEICon) is taking place this July in Las Vegas, bringing together some of the industry’s leading professionals and thought-leaders on key current and emerging topics impacting the sports and entertainment industry.
I’m honored to be speaking from a venue perspective on the panel discussing ‘The Business of Bowl Games’ during SEICon with respected colleagues from around the country. We can’t wait to share more with you after the conference.
We are so grateful to spend quality time with as many of you as we can, near and far. Regardless of the time or the separation between our visits (or even if we have never met), you all undoubtedly are family to us in the Legacy Foundation.
Of course, wear your Rose Bowl Stadium brand items loudly and proudly wherever you may be traveling this Summer – and send us photos! Kudos to Legacy Advisory Board member Clay
Sandidge for sporting the iconic rose hat on the links in Scotland, and to Legacy Board member Angelo Mazzone for his hospitality to Paul Engl and myself in Italy.
As always, your generosity and constant giving is vitally important to supporting the Legacy Foundation’s mission to preserve, protect and enhance the future of the Rose Bowl Stadium.
Please keep us in your giving thoughts – every bit makes a difference. Give online at any time by clicking here. We hope to have some major donor announcements in the coming months that are fueling our momentum into the football season.
Thank you so much for all that you do for us, and for always making the time. Regards from America’s Stadium,
Dedan Brozino
Rose Bowl Legacy Foundation | President
Rose Bowl Stadium | Chief Development Officer
dbrozino@rosebowlstadium.com