Unofficially, anyway.
For one, the BCS committee hasn’t decided where the three playoff games will be held, although there is reportedly a strong (and smart) lean to bid out the championship to a neutral site. Secondly, the actual interest was shown by Detroit-area businessmen, including Roger Penske (yes, auto racing’s Roger Penske).
“Things that are important and exciting in sports are things we need to do and we need to bring to our city,” Penske told the Detroit News. “There are a lot of people who have momentum and want to be able to extend some of the good things that are happening in our city. And sports are obviously a great platform.”
The host, obviously, would be Ford Field, which already has the Final Four, college hockey’s Frozen Four and the Super Bowl on its resume. Seeing as a neutral site championship game has already drawn comparisons to a “Super Bowl-like” event, that would be the closest comparison you could draw.
“If we can host the Super Bowl, we can host this event,” Little Caesars Pizza Bowl co-founder Ken Hoffman said of Ford Field. “Everybody knows Ford Field is one of the finest facilities in the country... We understand the attraction of southern warm-weather bowls, but people also need to understand the value that other states have.”
That’s all well and good for spinning your city, but if Detroit is going to host a college football championship -- that is to say if it’s actually bid out and not played within the bowl system -- it’s going to have to fork over the cash. The highest bidder, not the destination itself, is going to determine where college football’s championship is played.