Rose Bowl student section to relocate, along with team bench
By Grant Sugimura
Dec. 15, 2016 6:45 p.m.
For the first time since the Bruins’ move to the Rose Bowl in 1982, the UCLA student section will change locations.
UCLA Athletics announced the move and all relevant information to its fans via email Dec. 13.
The Den, the nickname of UCLA’s student section, sent out a mass email mid-November, gauging student interest in moving the section, and the results have come back in.
The survey received strong and compelling student support, according to the announcement email. It was thus was one of the main factors UCLA Athletics used in making the decision to move the entire student section from the northeast corner of the Rose Bowl to all along the edge of the northern end zone – a change that has been talked about for several years now, according to Josh Rebholz, the senior associate athletic director for external relations.
[Related: UCLA proposes new location for Rose Bowl student section]
According to UCLA Athletics, this move gives the students 205% more lower-level seating and around 25% more seating overall.
The UCLA football team is directly affected by these changes as well. The Bruins will now reside on the west side of the stadium – the shadier side. However, the one drawback to this move is that UCLA will no longer be visible on television for all plays due to the cameras being placed on the west side as well.
UCLA Athletics worked with The Den to make this move possible. In a similar initiative two years ago, The Den partnered with UCLA Athletics to move the student section in Pauley Pavilion closer to the floor.
