Forget about it, Seattle; the Bay Area gets the first shot at the latest conference to move its flagship football game to a neutral site.
As was speculated earlier this month, the Pac-12 officially announced Thursday that its football championship game will be played at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif. The stadium, which opens this August and will serve as the home of the NFL’s San Francisco 49ers, will play host to the Dec. 5 game this year as well as the games in 2015 and 2016.
At the end of those three years, the conference will look to either extend its agreement with the stadium, move to another stadium in its footprint -- or even rotate the games (unlikely) -- or return to where the first three league championship games were played: in the home stadiums of the team with the best conference record.
For now, however, the Pac-12 will call Santa Clara home for its regular-season finale through the 2016 season.
“ac-12 football is among the deepest and best football conferences in the country,” said commissioner Larry Scott in a statement. “Our Football Championship Game is important for selecting a team for the Rose Bowl and possibly the College Football Playoff, and we are thrilled to offer student-athletes and their fans the ultimate venue to culminate a successful season.”
In addition to Santa Clara and Seattle, Las Vegas and Phoenix were mentioned as potential locations.
(Photo credit: Pac-12)