2027 CFP championship expected to make massive economic impact in Las Vegas

Officials expect the 2027 College Football Playoff national championship to generate between a $500 million and $700 million economic effect on the Las Vegas Valley.

The event will be the latest in a string of major events being held in Las Vegas, from the Super Bowl in 2024, which is returning in 2029, the WWE’s WrestleMania held in 2025 and again taking place this month, to the annual Formula One Las Vegas Grand Prix and the NCAA men’s basketball Final Four planned for 2028.

The CFP will be less than the more than $1 billion economic impact generated by Super Bowl 58 in 2024 and the annual around $1 billion pull that is the Las Vegas Grand Prix. But there aren’t many events that have a financial implication for a city in the hundreds of millions of dollars range.

Despite the scarcity, Las Vegas seems to land major events of that stature on an annual basis.

“We are fortunate to have one or two every year that are in that range,” Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority President and CEO Steve Hill said. “There just aren’t that many events like that. So, the economic importance of this to Las Vegas shouldn’t be lost just in the sports and the excitement and the community impact. That economic impact matters, too.”

Next year’s college football title game is 293 days away as of Tuesday, but CFP officials have been visiting Southern Nevada on a monthly basis to fine-tune the week of events.

While in Las Vegas each month, officials are nailing down transportation, security, logistics and locations for the CFP events.

“The CFP folks are out every month for three days and they choose a couple of topics to work through,” Hill said. “We worked on security at Allegiant Stadium this morning.

“So I mean, there’s just any number of topics, about 20, that you have to work through really thoroughly in order to actually plan the game. So, they work through a couple each month. It’s a pattern that they’ve developed over the course of their 12 or 14 years in existence. It works really well and works for us, too.”

CFP events

The free CFP Fan Central in the West Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center will open on Jan. 23 to kick off the weekend. The interactive experience will include games, giveaways, clinics, pep rallies, special guest appearances, autograph signings and exhibits highlighting college football and its history.

Details, including the date and location of Playoff Playlist Live!, the live music offering tied to CFP championship weekend, will be announced at a later date. Previous performers of the event include Lil Wayne, the Chainsmokers, Sting, Lenny Kravitz and John Summit.

The Sunday before the game will feature two fan-favorite events, the Trophy Trot 5K and 10K races and the Taste of the Championship dining experience.

Details of the race course will be announced at a later date, but those taking part in either of the two races will receive a T-shirt and finisher’s medal. The Taste of the Championship is an elevated dining experience providing a food options from local vendors, with gourmet food and drinks prepared by area chefs. Details and ticket information for the taste event will be announced in the fall.

“Still working on some of those (events) and that’s why we come every month, we’re coming here to work on finding the best venues that are going to be most accessible to people and still allow us to put on the quality of event that this community deserves,” CFP executive director Rich Clark said.

Community effort

The CFP also will look to leave a lasting effect on Southern Nevada outside of the game. They have been working with the Clark County School District on the plan, through their charitable arm, The CFP Foundation.

The charity’s signature event during CFP week will be the Extra Yard for Teachers Summit, that will be held on Jan. 23, 2027. The event includes teachers, coaches and administrators join together for an inspirational event that includes notable guest speakers. Previous speakers include former Secretary of the State Condoleezza Rice, nine-time Olympic gold medalist Carl Lewis and Miguel Cardona, U.S. Secretary of Education.

The foundation also is spearheading training, which began Monday for more than 1,000 teachers in specialized methods for reading intervention. That will help to assist more than 280,000 CCSD students that face learning difficulties and dyslexia.

“We had teacher training for the program. It’s already started,” said Jhone Ebert, CCSD superintendent. “We’re training over 1,000 teachers in the Clark County School District to use the program. They are very excited because now they have additional tools in their tool belt.”

The CFP Foundation will also update 15 school libraries and community spaces into innovation media centers, via their Extra Yard Makeover Project.

In all, the CFP Foundation and CFP 2027 Las Vegas Host Committee will invest nearly $4 million over the next two years in programs that will support students in all 374 Clark County schools.

“The CFP didn’t just come here and use Vegas to put the game on, we came here to give something to this community and that’s important to us,” Clark said.