After Colorado’s 28-16 road loss to the UCLA Bruins Saturday, several Buffaloes players said jewelry was taken from their lockers in the Rose Bowl (the Bruins’ home stadium) during the game. And Colorado head coach Deion Sanders weighed in Tuesday with an unusual proposal, saying the Rose Bowl organization itself should compensate the players:
Deion Sanders called on the Rose Bowl to reiumbuse players for what was stolen during Saturday's game.
"This is the Rose Bowl. They say the Granddaddy of them all, right? I’m sure Granddaddy has some money."
— David Ubben (@davidubben) October 31, 2023
Here’s more on that from a piece Ubben wrote for The Athletic:
“All that stuff should be replaced. This is the Rose Bowl. They say the Granddaddy of them all, right? I’m sure Granddaddy has some money,” Sanders said Tuesday. “Grandpa should have some money to give these kids.”
…Sanders, who called the thefts a “travesty” and “unbelievable,” also called on the NCAA to do something about the crime.
“I would expect the NCAA to do something about that. These are college kids, I’m pretty sure they don’t think about insurance at this point and juncture in their life,” he said.
Sanders said the program has taught players about financial planning and financial literacy but said “we slipped” in talking to players about insuring their valuable items. He said people online arguing that players shouldn’t have valuables in the locker room bothered him.
“So they shouldn’t be blessed? They shouldn’t be blessed? That’s crazy. That’s like if you have a car in your driveway and somebody come and steal your car. ‘Well, you shouldn’t have a car.’ That’s how stupid that sounds. These are young men that worked their butts off or were blessed and gifted by family members whatever was stolen.”
We actually do know just how much money (or lack thereof) the Rose Bowl Operating Committee has, or at least a good approximation of it. That committee is a “California non-profit, public benefit corporation, founded in 1995 by an act of the Pasadena City Council,” and its mission is to “s to improve the quality of life in Pasadena by providing top quality entertainment and by generating revenue through the operation of a world-class stadium and a professional quality golf course complex.” And they post regular financial statements on Pasadena’s city website.
As per one recent statement there, an adopted budget presented in June for fiscal 2022 (in the above link), has the Rose Bowl operating fund actually losing $3.8 million on stadium operations and losing $3.9 million overall for that timeframe. And it has their operating fund finishing with a balance of just $798,000.
Of course, there’s more to it than just that. That same adopted budget has the Rose Bowl capital fund ending with a balance of $4.4 million. But there isn’t necessarily as much money here as Sanders’ claim might suggest, especially with the organization projected to lose between $4.6 to $7.6 million annually from fiscal 2023 to 2027.
There is possibly something to the idea that these players may be compensated for their lost property. Some facilities do have insurance policies covering property in secure areas. And if that’s the case, there could be something forthcoming there. But many others do have “store at your own risk” disclaimers.
There is also the possibility the stolen property could be recovered through a school, Rose Bowl, or police investigation. (Pasadena police are investigating the theft.) But that’s far from clear at this point.
At any rate, Sanders’ comments here are certainly going to bring more attention to the discussion around this stolen property. And they’ll certainly generate some discussion around security for players’ belongings, with Sanders saying Colorado plans to provide their own locker-room security going forward. But he does have a point that this shouldn’t necessarily have been expected, wondering ‘Who robs the Rose Bowl?”
