MIAMI — The day after a thrilling College Football Playoff national championship Monday night in Miami, officials shifted their focus to Las Vegas for the 2027 edition of the mega event.
At a hand off ceremony at the JW Marriott Marquis in downtown Miami on Tuesday, south Florida officials passed a ceremonial football helmet to Las Vegas officials and with it, hosting duties for the game next year.
“Viva Las Vegas,” said CFP executive director Rich Clark. “We are very, very excited for this next chapter in CFP.”
Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority CEO and President Steve Hill said Miami did a great job of hosting this year’s title game and said Las Vegas is ready to take the event to the next level when the CFP championship takes place at Allegiant Stadium on Jan. 25, 2027.
“We are excited to have the college football national championship coming to Las Vegas next year,” Hill said. “Las Vegas is a very special place, and it is the place to host events. It is built to host events.”
This year’s game in Miami is expected to generate a $300 million in economic impact in the Miami area, according to Miami Host Committee chairman Jack Seiler.
Orange Bowl CEO Eric Poms said that over 100,000 people visited south Florida for CFP weekend.
Las Vegas expects to have a full weekend, filling out the around 150,000 hotel rooms, with Jeremy Aguero, principal at Applied Analysis, saying a preliminary economic benefit estimation of at least $500-$700 million should be expected.
The exact number depends on which teams make it to the title game in Las Vegas, Aguero said.
“If we did it at 70 percent of Super Bowl or Formula One, you know those types of things, just looking at what it could be, but the hard part is that until you know who the teams are going to be, and you don’t know what’s that’s going to look like,” Aguero, who sits on the 2027 CFP Las Vegas Host Committee said.
Raiders’ President Sandra Douglass Morgan, who serves as co-chair of the Las Vegas host committee, said after already hosing the Super Bowl and a host of other one-off college football games and bowl games, the natural evolution was to host the CFP championship.
“There’s no better time to welcome the pinnacle of college football to Las Vegas,” Douglass Morgan said.
The weather in the Miami area was unseasonably cold for Monday’s game; one thing that won’t be a problem for the 60,000-plus fans taking in the game in Las Vegas next year, according to Allegiant Stadium general manager Andy Gorchov.
“When you have a domed stadium, you definitely have the ability to control the elements within the building,” Gorchov said. “Which is great. People can know that they can expect a nice clean, comfortable, and safe environment. That makes a big difference.”
Contact Mick Akers at makers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2920. Follow @mickakers on X.