Future College Football Playoff championship game sites announced
The College Football Playoff will not be making a pitstop in B1G country.
On Wednesday, it was announced that the national title game will be played in Atlanta in 2018, Santa Clara, California in 2019 and New Orleans in 2020.
Big Ten cities SNUBBED. (No dice, Detroit & Minneapolis.)
Atlanta in 2018
Santa Clara in 2019
New Orleans in 2020#CFP— Teddy Greenstein (@TeddyGreenstein) November 4, 2015
Detroit’s Ford Field was a possibility for 2019 and Minneapolis’ new U.S. Bank Stadium was in the running for the 2020 game.
Bill Hancock on Det and Minny: Those two cities excellent bids… we want to move the event around. We had better options in other cities
— Mark Snyder (@Mark__Snyder) November 4, 2015
Detroit, which hosted the 2006 Super Bowl and the 2009 Final Four, was apparently passed over because of the auto show.
“One thing that happened to Detroit in this case was the convention center was not available,” CFP Executive Director Bill Hancock said. “We have significant events in the convention center. To their credit, they made other space available, some tenting outdoors, but just comparing their bid, because of that with the other cities, is what made the difference, frankly.”
The Minnesota Vikings’ new venue is set to open next summer and already is hosting the Super Bowl in 2018 and the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament Final Four in 2019.
Still, that wasn’t enough to convince the committee to bring college football’s biggest stage to the Midwest. Actually, it might’ve hurt Minneapolis’ case.
Bill Hancock notes Minneapolis has Super Bowl ('18) and Final Four (’19) and “we’re not sure we wanted to be third in that row."
— Brian Bennett (@GBrianBennett) November 4, 2015
Bill Hancock: “Northern-tier cities have not been ruled out, and I don’t expect them to be."
— Brian Bennett (@GBrianBennett) November 4, 2015