For prolific philanthropist Ronald H. Bloom, USC and its football program figure large in family memories

When philanthropist and USC alum Ronald H. Bloom speaks about Trojan football, there’s a gleam in his eye. Some of his fondest USC memories involve his family’s tradition of decorating an RV, piling inside and heading out to cheer on his beloved Trojan football team.

“It was at those games, and during those times when I brought my family, that we shared this powerful moment of togetherness,” Bloom said during a recent interview with USC News at his home. As he and his wife, Lois, spoke, they sat in front of a large wall of USC Athletics artifacts, including shelves of historical books, photos, signed footballs, Traveler figurines and more. On an adjacent wall, nearly 100 USC Trojan football tickets are encased in glass.

Bloom and his family want to continue to provide those kinds of memories for future generations of Trojans through a generous $50 million gift to USC Athletics for construction of the new Bloom Football Performance Center. The site of the center — an estimated 163,000-square-foot complex that will serve as the new home of Trojan football — held a groundbreaking ceremony last week with more than 200 supporters at the University Park Campus.

The center is the latest investment in USC President Carol Folt’s athletics “moonshot,” a strategic vision to position USC Athletics for sustained excellence with new and upgraded facilities and enhanced academic support, ensuring Trojan student-athletes compete at the highest levels on the field and in the classroom.

Gifts for the Bloom Football Performance Center bring total investments in athletics facilities to more than $200 million as part of Folt’s moonshot, the most transformational era of athletics facilities upgrading and expansion in university history.

That donor-funded effort includes: a complete transformation of USC’s Dedeaux Field and other baseball facilities for the 2026 season; Rawlinson Stadium, the new home of USC women’s lacrosse and soccer, for which ground broke earlier this year; major upgrades to Galen Center, home to the basketball and volleyball squads; and the Colich Track & Field Center and other upgraded facilities — including the renamed Allyson Felix Field — for the track and field programs. Add all of that to the recent renovations to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, as well as future renovations to the John McKay Center and an upgraded golf practice facility, and USC’s holistic commitment to sustained excellence across all 23 athletic programs is on full display.

“The athletics moonshot — made possible by the energy and generosity of donors like Ron — sets up USC for success in the new, big world of the Big Ten,” Folt said. “These facilities will help our student-athletes thrive both on the field and in the classroom, while also offering a welcoming, world-class experience for the Trojans fans in the stands.”

Deep Trojan roots

Bloom — who has semi-retired from Crown Associates Realty Inc., the Beverly Hills-based industry real estate and property management company he founded in the 1960s — has deep roots on USC’s University Park and Health Sciences campuses.

He overcame childhood dyslexia to earn his Bachelor of Science degree in public administration at USC from what is now the USC Price School of Public Policy in 1955. His son Mitch is a 1985 graduate of the USC Marshall School of Business. Four of Bloom’s grandchildren also attended USC.

“USC is where we all went to school, so we have that same ability to learn from and relate to people,” said Bloom, who believes that Trojans graduate with a unique ability to engage with one another. “When you meet someone from the Trojan Family, you can discuss things and have a warmth immediately. You have an immediate feeling of response, of awareness, of wanting to understand each other and be a part of togetherness.”

A legacy of generosity

This is far from the first time that the Bloom family has a made an impactful contribution to the university. Bloom’s legacy at his alma mater also includes the Bloom Family Tunnel (No. 6) at the Coliseum; the Bloom seating section at the Galen Center’s center court; the Family Study Room in Heritage Hall, where he is also a founder; an endowed scholarship for the fullback position; sculptures along Bloom Walk between the gerontology center and Mudd Hall of Philosophy; and the Bloom Hall of Fame Walk, along the street adjoining the John McKay Center. The Bloom family also gifted the bronze George Tirebiter sculpture and bench on Trousdale Parkway at Bloom Walk.

Bloom has also supported the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, establishing two endowed chairs — the Ronald H. Bloom Family Chair in Lymphoma and the Ronald H. Bloom Family Chair in Cancer Research. Professors Preet Chaudhary and Steven Grossman of the Keck School of Medicine of USC currently hold the chairs in lymphoma research and cancer research, respectively.

“We have some wonderful people who are at the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center,” said Bloom, giving additional praise to the center’s director Caryn Lerman. “Before my first wife passed away, the people there were just so great with her. I was glad to have the opportunity to give back a little bit to that hospital.”

Lerman said she and her team are eternally grateful for the generosity of the Bloom family.

“Ron and his family are visionary philanthropists,” she said. “Their gifts to USC Norris have advanced lifesaving new therapies for patients with cancer.”

Bloom also served as a member of the USC Roski School of Art and Design Board of Councilors.

Outside of his work with USC, Bloom has also given to Cedars-Sinai, establishing the inaugural Ronald H. Bloom Family Chair Holder in Cancer Therapeutics in 2009, and is a board member of several organizations, including the Republican Jewish Coalition.

“Ron and his family have been amazing Trojans,” Folt said. “They are there for us every single time we have a need. It’s a perfect example of what it means to be a Trojan — lifelong, worldwide — and their family having their name on this amazing football performance center allows us to celebrate what it means to really love USC.”

Fortifying a winning future

It’s no coincidence that construction of the Bloom Football Performance Center began amid USC Athletics’ historic move to the Big Ten Conference. “The Bloom Football Performance Center is absolutely essential to USC’s success in the Big Ten and on the national stage,” Folt said. “It gives us the opportunity to support our athletes, our coaches and the rest of our staff to build those programs in the way they need to compete at this moment.”

The performance center, slated to open in summer 2026, will feature two full-length outdoor practice fields, one of which players can access directly from the three-level facility, a locker room, recovery and nutrition spaces, training areas, a team auditorium and meeting rooms.

While the Blooms’ generosity has benefited the university as a whole, the family believes that Lois Bloom has been an especially lucky charm for Trojan football through the years. She recalled how early in her relationship with Bloom, a friend gave a toast saying that USC hadn’t lost a game since they got together. And as their early days coincided with Pete Carroll’s legendary run with Trojan football, Lois Bloom was happy to take the credit.

“When we’re at a football game and the other team is about to score, if I go to the restroom the grandchildren say, ‘No, don’t leave!’” Lois Bloom said with a laugh, wearing a necklace her husband gave her that features a charm of Traveler with red ruby eyes. “So, the Trojan spirit is alive in our family, and I’m proud to be at Ron’s side for Trojan football.”

Although Bloom shared family memories of enjoying Trojan football games regardless of the outcome — including many games where they persevered in the stands despite pouring rain or snow — he and his family’s goal is for the Trojans to win. He hopes his latest gift helps them do just that by providing a “state-of-the-art space that’s going to compete with the finest facilities that are available to collegiate athletics.” He also hopes the facility will help boost recruiting efforts.

“One of the elements that made me want to give this gift was the fact that tomorrow’s football program will be enhanced by my contribution to it,” Bloom said.

He punctuated last week’s groundbreaking event with a joke — and a vote of confidence.

“When last Saturday [before the USC-Washington football game] came about, I turned on the game on TV and put on my lucky sweater — it didn’t help,” Bloom said to laughs from the crowd. “Now, I’m going to continue with the sweater, and coach [Lincoln] Riley’s going to continue coaching and we are going to hope for more Trojan wins in the future.”I feel like the tense here reads strange. The construction has already started, right? Could we just change to “The construction of the Bloom Football Performance Center began during”?