Las Vegas will host the College Football Playoff national championship game to close the 2026 season, according to a report Monday from Brett McMurphy of The Action Network.
No date has been attached to the game, which will be played some time in January 2027, because that will be the first season under a new CFP contract. The original 12-year contract that served as the backbone to the College Football Playoff expires after the 2025 season.
This coming season's national title game will be played Jan. 20, 2025, in Atlanta, and next season's championship is Jan. 19, 2026, in Miami. The hope across the industry is to engineer the schedule by 2026 to push the Vegas championship game up a week or more.
College Football National Championship sites, 2014-25
2014-15: Dallas
2015-16: Phoenix
2016-17: Tampa
2017-18: Atlanta
2018-19: Bay Area
2019-20: New Orleans
2020-21: Miami
2021-22: Indianapolis
2022-23: Los Angeles
2023-24: Houston
2024-25: Atlanta
2025-26: Miami
Once announced, Las Vegas will become the 10th market to host college football's championship game. The move also continues Las Vegas's rise as a destination for major sports events. Once a pariah, Sin City has become a siren out in the desert.
The NBA played its All-Star Game at UNLV's Thomas & Mack Center in 2007, but the NHL opened the floodgates by awarding Las Vegas an expansion team in 2017. The Raiders moved from Oakland to Las Vegas in 2020, and the Oakland A's are currently trying to do the same.
The NFL held its draft at the Bellagio in 2022 and, of course, held the crown jewel of sporting events at Allegiant Stadium this past February.
“It is a done deal. The College Football Playoff has been wanting to get to Vegas for years," a source told The Action Network. We’ll finally get our wish.”
While the professional sports leagues kept their distance from Las Vegas for decades, the college sports industry has long embraced Sin City.
The Las Vegas Bowl has been in operation since 1992, and the Pac-12 held its final three football championship games at Allegiant Stadium. The Big West, Pac-12, Mountain West, WAC, and West Coast Conference all hold (or held, in the Pac-12's case) their respective basketball tournaments in the Las Vegas area, and Allegiant Stadium will host the men's Final Four in 2028.
After Las Vegas, The Action Network reported the CFP is in negotiations with New Orleans, Dallas and Miami to host championship games for the 2027-29 seasons.
As always, stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.