CFP, Las Vegas officials have been busy planning for 2027 national championship game

As the 2026 college football season begins, College Football Playoff officials are already looking toward January when the national championship game will be hosted in Las Vegas at Allegiant Stadium.

CFP brass have been making regular trips to Southern Nevada over the past year scouting potential sites for various events during CFP National Championship week. Las Vegas has been a hot spot for hosting major sporting events in recent years, so its history has made the process a smooth one, according to CFP executive director Rich Clark.

“It has been as smooth as silk,” Clark said Tuesday. “The LVCVA is used to putting on big events. They know how to do epic, right? That’s what Vegas does. It’s big. And so they’ve been really helpful with our team, giving us great ideas on how to make it even better. And it’s not just about the game, but all the events that are surrounding the game. So it’s really been a great experience for our team.”

Specifics not ready

Clark wasn’t ready to offer specifics on what sites will be used during CFP week, but he said the city’s variety of options is a major plus.

“There’s so many different venues in Vegas, it’s been incredible for us to be able to go and see what venues can best support and what venues really want us to be a part of it and that are accessible for people for fans,” Clark said. “It’s easy to transport people and to get around in this city, so lots of great venues that are really first class (are) welcoming us with open arms. So I think every venue that we are going to be participating in is going to be best in class.”

Clark did note that the music festival that will be held during the national championship week, CFP Playlist Live, will be held at Grand Prix Plaza ahead of the game, which is scheduled for Jan. 25 at Allegiant Stadium. The lineup for the two-day festival wasn’t ready to be announced, but this year’s CFP Playlist Live held in Miami ahead of the 2026 national title game, featured acclaimed DJs Calvin Harris and John Summit, Peso Pluma, the Latin Mafia and Greeicy.

CFP Fan Central

CFP Fan Central will be held Jan. 22-24 at the West Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center. The free fan fest features autograph signings, participating team pep rallies, team band performances, mascot appearances, special appearances and an official CFP National Championship merchandise store.

This year, fan central will feature the inaugural CFP Flag Football Showcase, where men’s and women’s teams, in both youth and adult divisions, will take part in pool play and a single-elimination tournament. Registration for the tournament flag football showcase opens at 4 p.m. on Sept. 17 on iFlag’s website.

LVCVA president and CEO Steve Hill said the process has been smooth not only due to planning for previous large-scale events, such as the Super Bowl, NFL Draft and multiple runnings of the Formula One Las Vegas Grand Prix, but also because Southern Nevada leaders came together to help plan the events.

“We’ve got a great team built in this city to put on events — these week-long series of events leading to the game or the event that everybody’s aware of,” Hill said. “So the city knows how to come together and do it. You’ve got county agencies that do this, you’ve got transportation agencies that do this, the police department that has become just a world-class department in terms of how to manage and make sure that events stay safe.

“We get the team together every few weeks to do the next event, and they all know each other and they all know what to do. And all our customers have to do is come and say, ‘Here’s where we want it to be and these are the ancillary events we want to have and this is where we need to have them.’ And it’s like, OK, we’ve done virtually all of that before now. And I think that our customers see that now when they’re coming to town. It just makes things run really smoothly.”

Leaving lasting legacy

The games and the ancillary events aren’t the only thing CFP brings to the national championship hosting city. It also looks to leave a lasting impression on the philanthropic side.

The CFP Foundation plans to invest $3 million in Southern Nevada, largely tied to education-related efforts, including 15 school makeovers, each carrying a cost of $50,000, according to the CFP.

The first of the makeovers will be unveiled Wednesday at William Lummis Elementary School, with a revamped school library.

“We’ve been working hard in the Clark County School District so far,” Clark said. “We’re planning on a $3 million investment into the schools, and we’re going to be supporting the teachers, we’re going to be doing makeovers and we’re going to make sure that when we leave, that we don’t leave it worse than we found it, that we leave it better than we found it. We don’t come here to just bring a game to a city. We come here to help make a city better, to lift others.”