Prime-time slot for Orange Bowl

Kickoff for game at Hard Rock moved to Dec. 30 at 8 p.m.

The Orange Bowl — the first of the college bowl games to be played at night — will remain in the primetime spotlight this season.

The Orange Bowl Committee announced Monday that the game, set to be played at Hard Rock Stadium, has now been slated for an 8 p.m. kickoff on Monday, Dec. 30. The game had originally been scheduled to be played Wednesday, Jan. 1, in the early afternoon.

The change means Orange Bowl will be the the only major football game played that night on national television. No other bowl game is scheduled to be played during the Dec. 30 prime-time window, an Orange Bowl statement said, and the NFL will wrap up its Monday Night Football schedule on Dec. 23 with a matchup featuring the Minnesota Vikings hosting the Green Bay Packers.

“The Capital One Orange Bowl was presented with a unique opportunity by our partners, including ESPN, Capital One, the ACC, Big Ten, SEC, Notre Dame, the Miami Dolphins and the [College Football Playoff ] to play this year’s game on Monday, Decem

ber 30 in prime time,” said Jose C. Romano, the president and chair of the Orange Bowl Committee in a statement. “With other bowl games planned for the early afternoon window on January 1, this move enables our game to stand alone as the only bowl game staged on Monday night, when fans are used to viewing football games. We are confident this traditional start time will be a positive for both the out of town and local fans who attend our game, as well as the television viewers across the country.”

The move to prime time will also extend the Orange Bowl’s streak of having each of its games either start or finish at night. That has been the case since the game was played on Jan. 1, 1965.

Last year, the Orange Bowl hosted a College Football Playoff semifinal between Alabama and Oklahoma.

This year and in five of the next seven years, the Orange Bowl will feature a highly ranked team from the Atlantic Coast Conference against the highest ranked available non-champion from the

“This move enables our game to stand alone as the only bowl game staged on Monday night.” —Jose C. Romano, president and chair of the Orange Bowl Committee

Big Ten,

Dame.

The ACC’s representative will be either the conference champion or the runner-up, if the champion has been selected for the College Football Playoff.

“The ACC and Capital One Orange Bowl continue to have an extremely strong and beneficial partnership,” ACC commissioner John Swofford said in a statement. “We are pleased this year’s game will be played in primetime on December 30, which allows college football fans and South Florida supporters to experience all the excitement this game has to offer.”

The Orange Bowl is set to again host a CFP semifinal during the 2021-22 and 2024-25 seasons. SEC or Notre