NEW ORLEANS (February 3, 2026) – The Allstate Sugar Bowl will serve as a College Football Playoff (CFP) Semifinal for the upcoming 2026 season and will be played on Friday, January 15, 2027. For the 2027 season, the Sugar Bowl will be a CFP Quarterfinal and will be played on Friday, December 31, 2027. These two games, the 93rd and 94th Sugar Bowls, will be the seventh and eighth CFP Games hosted by the Sugar Bowl Committee.
 
Tickets to the Allstate Sugar Bowl can be purchased through the organization's annual ticket program. Annual ticket holders have access to the same seats every year as well as the ability to upgrade those seats. Complete an annual ticket interest form to be contacted by a representative.
 
"From the organization's beginnings, the Sugar Bowl Committee has strived to bring the best game possible to New Orleans," said Jeff Hundley, the CEO of the Sugar Bowl. "For the upcoming season, we'll have a Playoff Semifinal for the first time in the new 12-team CFP format; and next year, we host another CFP Quarterfinal. These are major national games that draw attention from all over the world – thousands of people will be here supporting our hotel and hospitality industries and millions will be watching the television broadcast, which effectively serves as an infomercial on everything that is good about our city and state."
 
The first six CFP games at the Allstate Sugar Bowl combined for over 122 million television viewers and brought an economic impact of over $1 billion to the region.
 
The CFP announced the game dates and assignments for the next two years in a press release on Tuesday. The quarterfinals for the 2026-27 season will be played in the Fiesta Bowl (12/30/26), the Cotton Bowl, the Peach Bowl, and the Rose Bowl (the latter three on 1/1/27). The semifinals will be played in the Orange Bowl (1/14/27) and the Sugar Bowl (1/15/27). In 2027-28, the quarterfinals will be in the Sugar Bowl (12/31/27), the Fiesta Bowl, the Peach Bowl, and the Rose Bowl (1/1/28). The semifinals will be in the Orange (1/13/28) and the Cotton Bowl (1/14/28).
 
"These dates allow us to maintain competitive balance, maximize the fan experience, and provide consistency for everyone involved in the Playoff," said Rich Clark, Executive Director of the CFP. "I also want to thank our bowl partners and their local communities for the incredible work, collaboration, and commitment they've shown throughout the first two years of the expanded playoff. The bowl games and the people behind them embraced change, delivered at the highest level, and helped ensure the expanded format was a success for student-athletes, fans, and the sport."
 
The field of 12 teams for the College Football Playoff will be comprised of the Autonomy 4 conference champions (ACC, Big 12, Big Ten, SEC) as well as the highest ranked team from the Group of 6 conferences (American, CUSA, MAC, Mountain West, Pac-12, Sun Belt), plus the seven highest-ranked at-large teams (Notre Dame is guaranteed a position if it is ranked in the top 12) in the final CFP Selection Committee rankings. The top four seeds will receive a first-round bye. The other eight teams will play in the first round (one game on Dec. 18 and three on Dec. 19) with the higher seeds hosting the lower seeds on campus.
 
The Allstate Sugar Bowl has established itself as one of the premier college football bowl games, having hosted 29 national champions, 114 Hall of Fame players, 55 Hall of Fame coaches and 21 Heisman Trophy winners in its 92-year history. The 92nd Allstate Sugar Bowl Football Classic, which served as a College Football Playoff Quarterfinal, saw Ole Miss defeat SEC rival Georgia in a sold-out Superdome on January 1, 2026. In addition to football, the Sugar Bowl Committee annually invests over $1 million into the community through the hosting and sponsorship of sporting events, awards, scholarships and clinics. Through these efforts, the organization supports and honors thousands of student-athletes each year, while injecting over $2.5 billion into the local economy in the last decade. For more information, visit www.AllstateSugarBowl.org.
 
The College Football Playoff (CFP) is the event that crowns the national champion in college football. Four Playoff First-Round games are played on host campuses, followed by the Playoff Quarterfinals and Playoff Semifinals, which rotate annually among six bowl games – the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic, Vrbo Fiesta Bowl, Capital One Orange Bowl, Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, Rose Bowl Game presented by Prudential and the Allstate Sugar Bowl. The College Football Playoff National Championship will be on Monday, January 25, 2027, at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada. For additional information on the College Football Playoff, visit CollegeFootballPlayoff.com.