Las Vegas makes play to host future college football championship game

Las Vegas tourism officials approved a measure Tuesday paving the way for the city to host a future College Football Playoff National Championship game.

The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority Board of Directors approved the potential of hosting a future college football championship game at Allegiant Stadium, should one be offered in the future.

The agreement between the convention authority and College Football Playoff officials allows the tourism agency to spend up to $40 million toward game management, event goods and services, marketing and advertising, event permits, team practice sites, facilities and law enforcement, security and emergency response services. The budgeted amount includes an initial $25 million and a $15 million contingency.

“It is largely an offset of costs for the CFP, the conferences and the game itself,” LVCVA CEO and President Steve Hill said after Tuesday’s meeting. “It functions very similarly to the Super Bowl.”

The LVCVA submitted a bid to host one college football championship game between 2027 and 2031, with the focus on the 2027 game, Hill noted last year.

As part of the approval, Hill would execute all agreements and grant awards to fulfill requests for proposals by the College Football Playoff group.

“We have submitted a bid, and this is part of the process of that submittal, where they want us to be able to enter into a contract, in the event they choose Las Vegas,” Hill said. “Absent that, it’s their call when they make that announcement, but we’re hopeful Las Vegas has certainly proven we’re the place to have these kinds of events.”

The talks with the CFP group have been occurring for the past couple of years, with the LVCVA hosting CFP members at last year’s Super Bowl at Allegiant Stadium and for separate site visits, Hill said.

“Vegas is the place to have major events,” Hill said. “We’ve shown that several times already and this is one we’ve been after and pointed to, the marquee events in the United States, and this is obviously one of them.”

The game would be televised on ESPN, with an expected attendance of over 70,000, generating over 126,000 incremental room nights, according to Lisa Motley, vice president of sports and special events with the LVCVA.

The scope of impact will be smaller than the Super Bowl, but the game would still be a massive event for the city, Hill said.

“It’s a little different in the length of time that the events that are associated are put on, but it’s close,” Hill said. “Obviously we are going to have a sell out at Allegiant Stadium when this comes. So it will have a huge impact on the city. The impact, from an economic standpoint, is not quite what it is for the Super Bowl, but its big and meaningful.”

Las Vegas has become a hotbed for major events since Allegiant Stadium was opened in 2020. Since then, the city has hosted a Super Bowl, the NFL Draft, two NFL Pro Bowls, an NHL All-Star game and NHL Draft, two Formula One Las Vegas Grand Prix events and two NBA in-season tournament semifinals and championship games. The city is also set to host this year’s WWE’s WrestleMania and the 2028 NCCA men’s basketball Final Four.

If Las Vegas were to land a college football championship game, it would be one of six cities to host a Super Bowl, College Football National Championship game and the NCAA men’s Final Four.

This year’s college football championship game between Notre Dame and Ohio State is being held Monday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. Next year’s game is slated to be hosted at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami.

The ultimate goal, similarly to the Super Bowl, is for Las Vegas to become a regular host of the championship game going forward, Hill said.

“One of our goals here at the LVCVA is to have a marquee event each year, in addition to having Formula One each year,” Hill said. “You look at what those marquee events are and it’s a pretty tough goal to achieve. It’s Super Bowls, it’s WrestleMania, it’s men’s and now women’s Final Fours, it is the College Football National Championship. Those are really the top marquee events that are out there. We’d love to get into a rotation for all of them.”

Contact Mick Akers at makers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2920. Follow @mickakers on X.