Fiesta Bowl extends CFP deal
Valley showcase to host key games through 2026
For years, the PlayStation Fiesta Bowl has played a significant role in crowning college football's national champion. That prestigious honor will continue.
The homegrown bowl – which unfolds each season at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale – has extended its agreement with the College Football Playoff for six seasons through 2026. This means the Fiesta Bowl will continue to host some of the sport's biggest contests, including the CFP semifinal match-ups in the 202223 and 2025-26 seasons.
"We really didn't know what to expect as we got into the new playoff situation, and quite frankly, you lose a little bit of the control of what your destiny is, but we proved that we're of the elite,'' Fiesta Bowl Executive Director Mike Nealy said Friday morning.
The agreement announced Friday ensures that the Fiesta Bowl will host semifinal contests four times in the first 12 years of the football playoff. Its next semifinal contest will unfold Dec. 28 of the 2019-20 season.
According to the bowl, the Fiesta Bowl drove $1 billion in economic impact over the playoff 's first four years, a stretch that included the 2016 national championship game. Over the last 12 years, that number is $2.75 billion.
"People want to be a part of this game because of the economic impact that it brings,'' Nealy said. "We were -- I wouldn't say worried -- but when you got into this there were no guarantees. We had to prove ourselves, and here we are four years into it, and I think we're kind of the jewel of the process. We fill the stadium. The teams and the administration that show up are treated with the hospitality that we've been known for, and we've delivered."
The national championship is awarded separately from the semifinal contests, and is landing in non-traditional bowl cities. Indianapolis, for example, will host the 2021-22 title game. Los Angeles will host in 202223. The first 10 have gone to 10 different cities. To date, only those through the 2023-24 season have been awarded. This season, the title game will be played at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif.
The Fiesta Bowl will pursue this opportunity. continue to