The CFP's "Championship Campus" in downtown Atlanta leading up to Monday night's Georgia-Alabama title game will provide "several days of fanfare" and is "expected to draw about 150,000 people over the weekend," according to Tim Tucker of the ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION. Events in advance of the game will "include a three-day interactive fan festival inside the Georgia World Congress Center, an open-to-the-public 'media day' in Philips Arena and a three-day concert series in Centennial Olympic Park." A similar series of events has "been held in conjunction with the national championship game each year since the playoff began" in '14. But this is the "first time all of the major ancillary events will be held in close proximity to the stadium where the championship game will be played." Playoff Fan Central is a "family-friendly festival" that will be "held in 300,000 square feet of space in the Georgia World Congress Center." Saturday morning’s Media Day in Philips Arena will see about 1,000 media members "interview players and coaches from both teams." Admission is "free for fans, who can sit in the stands and listen on hand-held radios to interviews." The AT&T Playoff Playlist Live is a "free concert series" outdoors at Centennial Olympic Park that includes performances by Jason Derulo, Charlie Puth, the Chainsmokers, Bebe Rexha and Darius Rucker. Rapper Kendrick Lamar will "perform at a free non-ticketed watch party in the park during the game Monday, with the performance integrated into ESPN’s halftime telecast." The game will be "shown on a three-story-tall video screen in the park" (ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION, 1/4).
TRUMP IN ATLANTA: The WALL STREET JOURNAL's Jason Gay offers advice to President Trump, who is scheduled to attend Monday's game. Gay writes, "I feel compelled to warn him: Mr. President, it could be a very long night." Trump's aides are "going to need to stockpile caffeine -- a 12-pack of the President’s prized Coca-Cola." If Trump "hangs in there until the very end, he is not getting back" to DC until Tuesday. Whether watching in the stadium or on TV, fans have to "hunker down to watch a college football game." College football "now lasts longer than college itself." The average contest has "inched over 3 hours, 20 minutes." If kickoff happens at 8:17pm ET as planned, a regulation finish would be "close to midnight" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 1/5). YAHOO SPORTS' Pat Forde wrote, "I’m here to debrief him on what he’s getting himself into." Forde: "Here’s what you need to know: There will be no Colin Kaepernick situation in this game. No kneeling. College football has mastered the art of craven political avoidance, so the teams tend to stay in the locker room during the national anthem. You won’t have to pull a Pence and walk out." Two "very successful teams from two very red states should stage a very well-played game." Forde sarcastically wrote, "There is no doubt that the ratings will be far better than any sporting event attended by Barack Obama" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 1/3).
