This may not be a popular opinion here, but I don't believe the Rose Bowl is a good home field for UCLA. Even with the renovations that have been made over the years it still lags far behind many of the better college stadiums. Its shortcomings are well known.
1. Too far from campus. It is further from campus than any other stadium in the nation. Traffic is usually terrible in both directions.
2. Parking - which used to be free (I am dating myself here) is now $38 to $44.
3. Concessions for the most part are not good and of course are expensive.
4. The majority of the seating is uncomfortable with little shade.
5. Tickets are too expensive. The average ticket price for the San Diego St game was $70. This might be ok if UCLA were a top 10 team, but as we saw with an announced attendance of 31,000, most people are not will to pay that.
6. The Rose Bowl is simply too big. UCLA rarely puts more 50K in the seats and as a result the stadium appears empty which looks bad on TV and is bad for recruiting. Winning should help this, but I don't know by how much.
The only real upside I see to the Rose Bowl is tailgating, but that does not make up for the downsides.
What can be done? Unfortunately, some genius in the athletic department sighed a lease that runs through 2044. Given this it looks like we are stuck there for a another 18 years. I hope Chesney takes the team to the promised land and UCLA football becomes relevant again. That would help ease the pain points I have mentioned. If that does not occur then the misery of playing in an empty, far away Rose Bowl will continue...