We don’t know yet which cities will play host to the College Football Playoff title games after the one following the 2016 season is played in Glendale, Ariz. We do know, though, the pool out of which the host cities will be selected.
Wednesday, it was revealed that nine cities had placed bids to play hosts to the CFP championship games in 2018 (following the 2017 season), 2019 (2018 season) and 2020 (2019 season). Those cities include, in alphabetical order so as not to offend anyone, Atlanta, Charlotte, Detroit, Houston, Miami, Minneapolis, New Orleans, San Antonio and Santa Clara.
All eight of those cities had previously had reports (HERE, HERE, HERE and HERE) attaching them to the bidding process for the upcoming games. Arlington, Houston, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, New Orleans, New York City, Orlando and Pasadena had also been mentioned as possibilities, although cities such as Arlington, Indy, Jax, NYC, Orlando and Pasadena all publicly decided against a run at this set of games.
Houston and Santa Clara were the only communities to bid on all three games. Charlotte, New Orleans and San Antonio bid on two games apiece, the 2019 and 2020 games. The breakdown of the other cities and the years in which they’re interested are as follows:
2018: Atlanta; Houston; Miami/South Florida; Santa Clara. 2019: Charlotte; Detroit; Houston; New Orleans; San Antonio; Santa Clara. 2020: Charlotte; Houston; Minneapolis; New Orleans; San Antonio; Santa Clara.
The winning bids are expected to be announced later this year, likely during the 2015 season.
The first CFP championship game was held this past January at the home of the Dallas Cowboys in Arlington, Tex. The cities of Glendale, Ariz., and Tampa, Fla., will host the title games following the 2015 and 2016 seasons, respectively.