MIAMI — Organizers of next season’s College Football Playoff championship game at Hard Rock Stadium held a news conference Thursday to discuss what the game and its ancillary events will be like for South Florida.
And what they won’t be like.
When the sport’s best teams meet in Miami Gardens on Jan. 19, 2026, it will bear no resemblance to the last time the championship game visited the stadium.
Thankfully.
That game was held amid the COVID pandemic with a socially distanced “crowd” of about 14,900 cheering through masks.
“We actually were able to pull off a successful ’21 game in the middle of a pandemic,” said Jack Seiler, president and chair of the Orange Bowl Committee who served as vice chair of the 2021 game. “I think the College Football Playoff people recognize that. I think the college football world would recognize that. Look, no other community could have pulled off a game – a national championship game – in the middle of the pandemic.”
Speaking at Brownsville Middle School, Rich Clark, CFP executive director, said having the scaled-back 2021 game was “somewhat of a factor” in bringing the game back to Miami for what’s certain to be a sellout crowd.
“This community did such a great job to make that game happen,” Clark said. “We know that Miami will do a great job with it and that our game will be fantastic.”
Alabama defeated Ohio State 52-24 amid surreal circumstances in 2021. By kickoff, Florida had 1.47 million reported cases and 22,912 deaths due to COVID. The Hard Rock parking lot was converted into a drive-thru for vaccinations, pausing only in the final hours before kickoff. Tickets had specific entry times to encourage distancing at the gates.
“It was weird because there’s no one here,” Crimson Tide fan Michael Cohan told USA Today. “You’ve got nothing. There isn’t anything going on.”
Golf tournament, luncheon coming to Palm Beach County
No one can say that next January, with a slew of events including a free, three-day fan experience at the Miami Beach Convention Center, 5K and 10K “Trophy Trot” runs and a “Taste of the Championship” food and wine experience.
There also will be a two-day music festival that in the past has featured a range of acts including Lil Wayne, Pitbull, Meghan Trainor, Darius Rucker, Sting and Flo Rida.
Although the game is in northwest Miami-Dade County, Seiler said multiple events are in the works for Palm Beach. Specifics have not yet been announced, but they will include a golf tournament and kickoff luncheon.
Palm Beach County teachers also stand to benefit from partnerships with CFP, with more than $3 million ticketed for teachers in the tri-county area through the Miami Loves Teachers initiative and Extra Yard Makeovers program.
“From Palm Beach County to Miami-Dade County, they’re all behind this bid and all benefit from this,” Seiler said. “We’re going to be helping teachers in Palm Beach County. We’re going to be helping the young members of the community in Palm Beach County.”
Clark watched the 2021 game on television and is happy to know he’ll be presenting the trophy to next season’s champions under completely different circumstances.
“We had to scale back a lot, like everybody in the country did at the time,” he said. “But it’s going to be at full capacity this year and it’s going to be really an incredible event.”
Dolphins reporter Hal Habib can be reached at hhabib@pbpost.com. Follow him on social media @gunnerhal.
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