Tampa's "Millionaire's Row" Of Yachts Highlights Unique Element Of CFP Title Game

One of the most unique elements to this year's CFP Championship is the row of yachts lining up along Tampa’s Downtown Riverwalk. Eighteen impressive vessels as long as 160 feet create a “millionaire’s row” in one of the busiest tourist areas of Tampa during the CFP weekend. Yacht owners paid $15,000-30,000 to rent the slip for a week from the host Tampa Bay Sports Commission. The commission worked with Galati Yacht Sales to find candidates for the village. Galati also serves as presenting sponsor of the space, which sits in the Hillsborough River in the middle of Tampa’s downtown. Yacht packages also include tickets to the game and access to the CFP’s ancillary events, like the fan fest and concerts. Power and water hookups are included. Dock spaces range from 30x79 feet to 80x150 feet. Three of the yachts are 150 feet or longer. If yacht owners do not want to leave their plush surroundings, a floating hospitality barge serves them meals through the week. Yachts began arriving as early as Tuesday. “This is the first time we’ve tried this, but I think it will be a blueprint that works well and will be a key differentiator for us as we bid for major events,” said TBSC Exec Dir Rob Higgins. He credited TBSC BOD Chair Joe Collier with the idea. The Riverwalk -- a 2.5-mile pedestrian stretch that links museums, restaurants and parks on Tampa’s waterfront -- serves as the backbone to the CFP fan experience because it connects all of the major events, from the fan fest at the convention center to the Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park, the site of free concerts Friday through Sunday. Previous CFP championship weekends in Phoenix and Dallas have had similar fan events, but they have not been as centralized as they are in Tampa. “We’re really excited to leverage the water and Tampa as a destination as much as possible,” Higgins said. “There’s a lot of ways we’re trying to play to our strengths. If you came here for the Super Bowl in 2009 or more recently for an NCAA championship, the Riverwalk wasn’t complete yet. But now it gives us a more compact championship campus that keeps most everything within walking distance.”

17 IDEAS FOR '17: The TBSC identified 17 items that will be new for the third CFP title game. Higgins’ team is calling it the 17 for ’17. Here’s the list of firsts: