Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton held a press conference with Bill Hancock, director of College Football Playoff, and co-chairs of the Arizona Organizing Committee, Win Holden and Brad Wright to discuss the central role Phoenix will play in the College Football National Championships Tuesday morning .
Back in December, it was announced that Arizona and Tampa have been chosen to host the college football national championship games in 2016 and 2017 respectively.
This is huge for Arizona and is the second of three big events Phoenix will and has hosted. It started with Super Bowl XLIX in February, will continue with the second-ever College Football National Championship and in April 2017 it will host the NCAA men's basketball Final Four.
Although the championship game will be played at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Phoenix will host a family-fun fan festival and concert series leading up to the game on Jan. 11.
Similarly to events surrounding Super Bowl XLIX this past February, Phoenix will host these events in and around the Phoenix Convention Center. Unlike this past winter, ESPN has decided to move its live broadcast from Scottsdale to downtown Phoenix.
Stanton is determined to make the second championship the most memorable by coming together as a community.
"I know it's only the second one, but I want to look back 30 years and they'll remember Phoenix and the Valley of the Sun as the best ever college football playoff experience," Stanton said. "We are fully committed to ensure that the players, the coaches, the staff, the university officials, the family members and fans of the respective teams have the best experience they can possibly have in Downtown Phoenix."
Phoenix will have many activities leading up to the big game, but Glendale will also play a large role, given that the game is the biggest part of the weekend.
"(They are hosting) just the game," Hancock said. "Just the national championship game, just the center of the whole weekend will be in Glendale because of the football game."
The Arizona Organizing Committee is hosting this College Football Playoff National Championship and is hoping to pay all event expenses with about $14 million from corporate donors.
The first College Football Playoff national championship game was played on Jan. 12 in Dallas, Texas and ended with Ohio State defeating Oregon 42-20.
Prior to the establishment of the College Football Playoff, Arizona previously served as hosts for the 2007 BCS National Championship Game.
The three cities that Glendale beat out for the second championship game were Jacksonville, Fla. (EverBank Field), New Orleans (Mercedes-Benz Superdome) and Tampa.
The winners of the Cotton and Orange Bowl will meet in Phoenix for the championship game on Jan. 11.
More details are to follow regarding details about the events and specific times. This information will be announced via social media.
Reach the reporter at kewens@asu.edu or follow @katlynewens on Twitter.
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