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Hard Rock Stadium to host 2026 College Football Playoff national championship game

Mark your calendars, college football fans. The 2026 College Football Playoff National Championship will be held at Hard Rock Stadium.

The game, on Jan. 5, will be the 22nd college football championship hosted in South Florida, and the second since the CFP era began in 2014.

Miami hosted the 2021 CFP National Championship between Alabama and Ohio State, though attendance was limited due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Brett McMurphy of The Action Network reported in January that Miami would get the game as officials “wanted to award Miami another title game as soon as possible because of the financial hardships incurred by Miami.’’

The news became official Monday afternoon.

“We are truly honored that the College Football Playoff would select Miami as the site of the 2026 CFP National Championship,” said Jack Seiler, chair of the 2026 Host Committee. “Following our successful hosting of the 2021 CFP National Championship through the unprecedented challenges presented by COVID-19, we immediately became focused on the next viable opportunity to once again bring college football’s most prestigious event back to our community with a complete championship experience and a capacity crowd at the spectacular Hard Rock Stadium.”

“We are elated to be able to bring the CFP National Championship back to our community in 2026,” said Frank Gonzalez, president and chair of the Orange Bowl Committee. “While this was truly a collaborative effort of many entities, we felt that it was important for the Orange Bowl Committee to once again lend our many years of experience and expertise in leading this collective championship bid effort.”

Tom Garfinkel, vice-chairman and CEO of the Miami Dolphins and Hard Rock Stadium, added: “Steve Ross privately invested hundreds of millions of dollars to make Hard Rock Stadium a premier venue for the world’s biggest events and bringing another college football National Championship here to South Florida is a testament to that vision and commitment.”

In addition to the college football championship, Hard Rock Stadium in 2026 will host the Miami Open tennis tournament, F1 Miami Grand Prix, 2026 World Cup, Miami Dolphins and the Miami Hurricanes football seasons.

Bill Hancock, executive director of the College Football Playoff, said the decision to return to South Florida was an easy one.

“South Florida was a great host for the 2021 national championship game despite the event being scaled back because of COVID-19, and we look forward to returning in 2026 with a full complement of events and activities during national championship weekend,” Hancock said. “The first-class stadium, convention center, hotels and supportive people in South Florida made the decision to return quite easy.”