Atlanta will "submit a bid this month" to host the January '18 CFP Championship game at the new Falcons stadium, according to Tim Tucker of the ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION. Atlanta Sports Council Exec Dir Dan Corso said, "We’re in the process of organizing a proposal to host the event." The proposal is "due to College Football Playoff officials by May 27." Corso said that CFP officials also "will accept bids at that time for the championship games" in '19 and '20. But Atlanta "will seek only" the '18 game. The city is "forgoing a pitch" for the '19 event "because of plans to bid for that year’s Super Bowl instead." Atlanta "isn’t eligible to host the college football championship" game in '20 because the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl "will have a national semifinal game two weeks before." Other cities that have "expressed interest in bidding for the same game as Atlanta" include Miami, Santa Clara, San Antonio, Jacksonville and Charlotte. Atlanta’s bid committee "consists of representatives of the Sports Council, the Falcons, the Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau, the Peach Bowl, the Georgia World Congress Center Authority and Georgia Tech." The CFP Championship is "part of a trifecta, along with the Super Bowl and the Final Four, that local sports and tourism boosters hope to bring to the stadium in its first few years." Minneapolis, where a new Vikings stadium is slated to open next year, is "trying for the same trifecta as Atlanta" (ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION, 5/7).
