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Sugar Bowl

New Orleans Selected to Host 2028 College Football Playoff National Championship

Allstate Sugar Bowl Will Spearhead Efforts for Historic Event

NEW ORLEANS (October 1, 2025) – The College Football Playoff (CFP) National Championship returns to Louisiana and New Orleans on January 24, 2028, in the Caesars Superdome. The event will be the 14th national championship game in the College Football Playoff format which went into effect following the 2014 college football season. It will mark the 30th time that the city and state have hosted a college football national champion team, including LSU which won the 2020 CFP National Championship with a win over Clemson (January 13, 2020).
 
"The College Football Playoff is thrilled to bring the national championship game back to New Orleans in 2028," said Rich Clark, executive director of the College Football Playoff. "Few cities embrace college football quite like New Orleans, with its unmatched hospitality, culture, and passion for the game. We know fans, teams, and the entire college football community will have an unforgettable experience in one of the sport's most iconic destinations."
 
The Allstate Sugar Bowl spearheaded the bid effort for the 2028 game with support from the Greater New Orleans Sports Foundation. The New Orleans College Football Championship Host Committee, comprised by representatives of the Sugar Bowl Committee and the Sports Foundation, will work with the College Football Playoff staff to coordinate the national championship game and ancillary events.
 
"This region again proved itself back in 2020 when it hosted what was recognized as the best national championship event to that point in time, and I'm confident that we will meet and exceed expectations again in 2028," said Jeff Hundley, the chief executive officer of the Allstate Sugar Bowl. "While the Sugar Bowl is proud to serve as a CFP site every year, we're particularly thrilled to have another opportunity to host the National Championship, and we want to thank Rich Clark and the organizers of the College Football Playoff for entrusting us with this awesome event. Furthermore, we're honored and humbled by the great support of partners throughout the city and state who have come together to make this happen."
 
The Allstate Sugar Bowl worked closely with entities across the city and state to construct the bid for hosting the 2028 College Football Playoff National Championship. Other entities in support of the bid included the Governor's Office; the Louisiana Office of Tourism; the City of New Orleans; New Orleans & Company; the Greater New Orleans Sports Foundation; ASM, the management company of the Caesars Superdome; the New Orleans Saints; and the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, along with multiple government agencies on the state and local level.
 
"We are thrilled to bring yet another premiere sporting event to Louisiana! There is no place in the world that has the hospitality, food, and culture like the city of New Orleans," said Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry. "I am thankful to all who made this a reality, and I'm looking forward to making the 2028 National Championship the best one yet. When it comes to hosting on the big stage, nobody does it better than the state of Louisiana."
 
"We are thrilled to welcome the College Football Playoff National Championship back to Louisiana in January 2028. Few events generate the level of excitement, national attention, and international exposure that this game brings, and no place hosts it quite like Louisiana," said Louisiana's Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser. "Beyond the roar of the crowd and the energy in the Superdome, this championship delivers a tremendous boost to our tourism industry and our state's economy – filling hotels, restaurants, and attractions across the region. It's another chance to showcase Louisiana's unique culture, hospitality, and unforgettable experiences to visitors from across the country and around the world."
 
New Orleans has become a city of champions by hosting 11 Super Bowls, six NCAA Men's Final Fours and four NCAA Women's Final Fours in addition to the multiple college football national championships. The Sugar Bowl, which had its start on January 1, 1935, hosted four BCS National Championship games (2000, 2004, 2008 and 2012) as well as three other games which featured the No. 1 vs. No. 2 teams in the AP Polls (1979, 1983, 1993) and the 2020 CFP National Championship. In addition to that, the Bowl has welcomed 21 other national champion teams – teams that either captured the title with a victory in the Sugar Bowl; had already been declared the national champion before the bowl, which happened regularly in the early years of college football; or earned the national title after winning a College Football Playoff Semifinal in the Allstate Sugar Bowl (Ohio State following the 2014 season, Alabama following the 2017 season).
 
"The Sugar Bowl Committee has served as a strong, generous and committed corporate citizen for over nine decades now," said Dottie Reese, the President of the volunteer Sugar Bowl Committee. "In the past decade alone, Sugar Bowl efforts have created over a billion dollars in economic impact and nearly $200 million in direct tax revenue for the city and state. For 92 years, this community has been able to count on the Sugar Bowl. Today, we are proud to continue that legacy by investing millions of Sugar Bowl dollars to bring the 2028 College Football National Championship to New Orleans and Louisiana."
 
New Orleans has long been a coveted destination for travelers and continues to collect an impressive array of honors and awards. In addition to being honored as North America's Leading Sports Tourism Destination, the Crescent City has been named the World's Best City (Travel+Leisure Magazine), a Top 25 City in the World (Conde Nast Traveler), the Best U.S. City for Culture (Holafly), a Must-See City for Family Travel (Good Housekeeping), and one of the 20 Best Places to Travel in the World (National Geographic), while a trip to New Orleans was named one of the Six Trips That Will Change Your Life (Coastal Living Magazine).
 
"In New Orleans, we are built to host meetings and events of all kinds. We have shown time and again that New Orleans is a championship destination built to host championships unlike any other, and we look forward to another exceptional event when we host the College Football Playoff National Championship in 2028," said Walt Leger, III, President & CEO of New Orleans & Company. "New Orleans has been the backdrop to legendary college football games, memories and moments for generations, and we look forward to adding even more iconic moments in 2028."
 
The city also hosted one of the most successful Super Bowls of all-time on February 10, 2025. Super Bowl LIX generated an estimated $1.25 billion in economic output in Louisiana, more than double the financial impact from the last time New Orleans hosted the event (2013), according to a study released by LSU researchers.
 
The College Football Playoff was established in the spring of 2013 to replace the Bowl Championship Series, which had been in existence for 16 years. From 2014-15 to 2023-24, the College Football Playoff was a four-team playoff with the best four teams playing two Playoff Semifinal games followed by the College Football Playoff National Championship.
 
The 2024-25 season saw the expansion of the CFP to 12 teams. The 2025-26 season marks the second season of the 12-team format. The top four seeds will receive byes and will play the winners of four first-round games (played on campus sites) in the Sugar Bowl, Rose Bowl, Cotton Bowl, and Orange Bowl. The Playoff Semifinals will be played in the Fiesta Bowl and the Peach Bowl, followed by the CFP National Championship in Miami on January 19.
 
The Allstate Sugar Bowl hosted one of the first Playoff Semifinals following the 2014 season and the sold-out event was viewed by over 28 million television viewers, at the time, the largest cable television audience in history. The Sugar Bowl also hosted semifinal games following the 2017 and 2020 seasons. This past year, the Sugar Bowl hosted its first Playoff Quarterfinal as No. 7 Notre Dame defeated No. 2 Georgia, 23-10.
 
This year's Allstate Sugar Bowl will once again serve as a CFP Quarterfinal on New Year's Night.
 
-www.AllstateSugarBowl.org-
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