future sites to host NCG announced

[Papalou]

Arizona and Tampa, Fla., will host college football's 2016 and 2017 national championship games.

Glendale's University of Phoenix Stadium, the site of the Fiesta Bowl and home of the Arizona Cardinals, was chosen over three other venues for the Jan. 11, 2016, game.


Andy Lyons/Allsport Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla., does not host one of the College Football Playoff's six major bowl games, but it has hosted Super Bowls after the 2000 (shown here) and 2008 seasons.

Tampa's Raymond James Stadium was selected over five other venues for the Jan. 9, 2017, game. Raymond James hosts the Outback Bowl each year and is home to the South Florida Bulls and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The commissioners of the 10 Football Bowl Subdivision conferences and Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick voted on the sites.

AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, was announced in April as the site of the title game in 2015, the first year the NCAA moves to the four-team College Football Playoff.

Since 1999, the Glendale/Phoenix area has hosted four BCS title games. This will be the first college football title game in Tampa, which has hosted four Super Bowls -- two at Raymond James Stadium.

Tampa also will become the first city that does not hold one of the College Football Playoff's six major bowls to host a national title game. Tampa finished as the runner-up to Arlington to host the first title game in the post-BCS era.

Stadium Capacity

Raymond James Stadium, site of the 2017 title game, has the smallest capacity of any venue selected so far.
Year Site Capacity
2015 Arlington, Texas 80,000*
2016 Glendale, Ariz. 72,200
2017 Tampa, Fla. 65,890
*expandable to about 105,000

The three cities Glendale beat out for the 2016 game were Jacksonville, Fla. (EverBank Field), New Orleans (Mercedes-Benz Superdome) and Tampa.

The five cities Tampa beat out for the 2017 game were San Francisco/Santa Clara (Levi's Stadium), Jacksonville, Minneapolis (Vikings Stadium), San Antonio (Alamodome) and Miami (Sun Life Stadium).

During the 12-year College Football Playoff contract, the semifinals will be at:

• Rose and Sugar bowls: Jan. 1, 2015; Jan. 1, 2018; Jan. 1, 2021; and Jan. 1, 2024.

• Orange and Cotton bowls: Dec. 31, 2015; Dec. 31, 2018; Dec. 31, 2021; and Dec. 31, 2024.

• Fiesta and Chick-fil-A bowls: Dec. 31, 2016; Dec. 31, 2019; Dec. 31, 2022; and Dec. 31, 2025.

In years the Rose, Sugar and Orange bowls do not host the semifinals, they will get the highest-ranked team from their respective conference tie-ins: Rose (Pac-12 vs. Big Ten), Sugar (SEC vs. Big 12) and Orange (ACC vs. highest-ranked from SEC/Big Ten/Notre Dame).

The BCS ends this season with No. 1 Florida State and No. 2 Auburn playing on Jan. 6 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif.

 

[BigAppleBadger]

Tampa? That sucks. The strip clubs and Hooters will do brisk business I guess.

 

[Papalou]

Tampa? That sucks. The strip clubs and Hooters will do brisk business I guess.

lol thats what I was thinkin too.I was kind of hoping they would use some of the larger college stadiums for the NCG. I know that Columbus, Knoxville, Ann Arbor and Tuscaloosa arent huge tourism spots but think of the intensity of a season with the opportunity to play at home for all the marbles.

 

[Edisto_Tiger]

bump

 

[4down20]

The world is going to end in 2012, so it doesn't matter.

 

[Papalou]

The world is going to end in 2012, so it doesn't matter.

true dat, I dont know why I brought it up now

 

[JuiceTheGator]

Tampa? That sucks. The strip clubs and Hooters will do brisk business I guess.

Tampa is a great town...great choice.

 

[Papalou]

Tampa is a great town...great choice.

homer

 

[Doctor Krieger]

Tampa is a great town...great choice.

It's a terrible sports town though.

 

[Edisto_Tiger]

Tampa is a great town...great choice.

I have a buddy that lives down there, a salesman for some high end sail boat accessories en sech, and he loves it. He's always on the water. Fishing, sailing, and just killing time in general with awesome scenery.

 

[BigAppleBadger]

I have a buddy that lives down there, a salesman for some high end sail boat accessories en sech, and he loves it. He's always on the water. Fishing, sailing, and just killing time in general with awesome scenery.

Tampa is too flat to have "awesome scenery".

 

[ElTexan]

lol thats what I was thinkin too.I was kind of hoping they would use some of the larger college stadiums for the NCG. I know that Columbus, Knoxville, Ann Arbor and Tuscaloosa arent huge tourism spots but think of the intensity of a season with the opportunity to play at home for all the marbles.

You want them to play the NCG in Ohio or Michigan in the middle of January?
Let's hear from someone who isn't clinically insane.

 

[ElTexan]

Tampa is too flat to have "awesome scenery".

He meant hot girls, fancy boy.

 

[RegentDenali]

Man. The SEC has a home field cake walk in 2017. Semi in Atlanta, and Final in Tampa Bay.

 

[Papalou]

You want them to play the NCG in Ohio or Michigan in the middle of January?
Let's hear from someone who isn't clinically insane.

Yep I sure do, its football not a girls weekend out. Football was meant to be played in the weather, remember the ice bowl of course you do. I personally think its bs that some teams have the opportunity and some teams dont to play at home for a NCG.

And by the way,they dont have any problem selling out Lambeau or Soldier field o rwhatever you call that place the Pats play in January, I doubt it would be much of an issue for college football.

 

[ElTexan]

'back in my day... brrrr..... cold weather sport.... '
I want to see great football with athletes at the top of their game, not youngsters clogging down the field... and I'm sure the fans don't want to be outside for 5+ hours in line and watching the game in sub-freezing temps because... what? you like it for some reason?

 

[UNA Lion]

... yeah, not my idea of a good time yankees.

You can keep it.

 

[Runeman]

I hate to see an important game decided on a crappy field in the snow. IMO, Southern California or Southern Florida is just fine, unless a dome stadium is available. Any major city with a dome stadium also works for me.

 

[BigAppleBadger]

I hate to see an important game decided on a crappy field in the snow. IMO, Southern California or Southern Florida is just fine, unless a dome stadium is available. Any major city with a dome stadium also works for me.

Football is a game played outdoors, always has been. The weather conditions are just part of the game and affect both teams equally.

In fact it's unfair that Southern teams never have to play in adverse weather conditions, while Northern teams have to build their teams around the ability to play in cold, wind, rain or even snow.

 

[Runeman]

Football is a game played outdoors, always has been. The weather conditions are just part of the game and affect both teams equally.

In fact it's unfair that Southern teams never have to play in adverse weather conditions, while Northern teams have to build their teams around the ability to play in cold, wind, rain or even snow.

I don't believe that Northern teams build their teams around anything but good football and from what I've seen, teams from the South do just fine in those conditions as well. That said, there is more to the NC game than just football. The entertainment factor has to be considered. Lots of money involved. People need hotel rooms, places to spend their money and a football venue that is conducive to good viewing and good TV. I get the outdoor factor and during the year it's kind of nice to see games played in the conditions you describe; just not going to happen for the NC game in the future so get used to that concept.