Pasadena reaches agreement to host Olympic soccer at Rose Bowl
The City of Pasadena has reached an agreement with the organizers of the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games to host Olympic soccer at Rose Bowl Stadium.
Men’s and women’s semifinal and final matches will be held at the historic venue when Los Angeles hosts the games in 2028.
LA28 CEO Reynold Hoover says the Rose Bowl will make history as only the second venue in the world to host events for three separate Olympic Games.
The stadium previously hosted track cycling in the 1932 games, and soccer in 1984. The gold medal match of the ’84 games was attended by more than 100,000 fans, officials said.
“Pasadena is proud to be a Venue City supporting the Host City of Los Angeles for the 2028 Games,” Pasadena Mayor Victor M. Gordo said in a news release. “We look forward to welcoming the world to the iconic Rose Bowl Stadium.”
The agreement outlines responsibilities between the LA28 Organizing Committee and the City of Pasadena, with all final venue and sport approvals pending confirmation by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Executive Board.
Additional agreements between the city and LA28 are expected to be finalized by October 2027, officials said.
Jens Weiden, CEO of Rose Bowl Stadium, called the venue “America’s Stadium,” and said the LA28 games will “uplift the entire Southern California community.”
Officials expect tourism during the next summer Olympics will be “substantial” to the Pasadena region.
Other venues across Los Angeles County will be packed with events, with some sports shifting to new locales as part of a recent agreement.
According to the Los Angeles Times, Olympic basketball will be moved to the new Intuit Dome in Inglewood, swimming will take place at SoFi Stadium and Crypto.com Arena in downtown L.A. will host gymnastics. BMO Stadium, home to Los Angeles Football Club and Angel City Football Club, will be the site of Olympic lacrosse and the debut of flag football in the Olympic Games.
Olympic softball, which is making its return to the games for the first time since 2020, and canoe slalom will be part of the 2028 games, but will actually take place all the way in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
The Rose Bowl is also among a handful of stadiums confirmed as hosts for the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup, an international competition of professional club teams taking place this summer. It was not selected for the better known FIFA World Cup taking place the following year, although SoFi Stadium was.