Posted on Sep 2, 2022 at 5:13 am.
Last updated on: September 2, 2022, 5:16 am.
University presidents, who oversee the college football playoffs, voted today to expand the post-season national champion determination model from four to 12 teams by no later than the 2026 season. This increases Las Vegas’ chances of hosting the CFP National Championship starting in 2027.
In their unanimous vote, the Presidents approved the original 12-team proposal, which called for the six top-ranked conference champions and six at-large picks, as determined by a selection committee, to advance to the playoffs. More details will be decided by the 10 FBS conference commissioners and Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swabrick starting next week in Dallas.
“This is a historic and exciting day for college football,” said Mississippi State President Mark Keenum, the chairman of the board Associated Press. “More teams, more participation and more excitement is good for our fans, alumni and student athletes.”
They’re also good for Las Vegas, whose 65,000-seat Allegiant Stadium, which opened in 2020, was already briefly considered for the 2025 CFP National Championship. That is, until a scheduling conflict with the lucrative Consumer Electronics Show (CES) killed that opportunity. (Each year in early January, CES draws more than 170,000 people to the Las Vegas Convention Center and pumps an estimated $300 million into the Las Vegas economy.)
A 12-team playoff would likely move the championship game to late January and eliminate the conflict with CES.
“I don’t want to take anyone’s chances away, but if you look at the things we’re looking for… Las Vegas has it all,” said CFP executive director Bill Hancock Las Vegas Review Journal back in April. “We haven’t worked with a Las Vegas hosting committee yet, so we don’t have a track record of them being able to honor their commitments anyway. But there is a strong track record with other events that have been very successful.”
Hancock told that R.J that the CFP assesses a number of factors when considering future locations, including the quality of hotels, venues, flight services and the history in which major events took place.
When the CFP will focus on deciding future championship locations is not clear. However, Atlanta was announced as the host for 2025 on August 16, filling the last remaining gap in the schedule. (The 2023 game will be played in Los Angeles, the 2024 game in Houston, and the 2026 game in Miami.)
In January, Las Vegas was named the venue for Super Bowl LVIII in 2024. According to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Association, this football game is expected to generate $500 million in the Las Vegas economy, not counting $70 million in local and state tax revenues.
“I don’t want to make any predictions or over promises, but we were definitely impressed with what we saw in Las Vegas,” Hancock said R.J.
Comments are closed.