Indianapolis CFP Host Committee President Susan Baughman will attend this year's National Championship in New Orleans to "come up with a game plan" for when the event comes to Indy in '22, according to Michael Marot of the AP. Indianapolis has "plenty of experience hosting major events," but still, it will be the "first cold-weather city to host college football's marquee game." Baughman knows if she "pulls off a successful event" in '22, it "could keep Indy in the mix" moving forward. Baughman, the 14-member executive committee and 23-member BOD will be "working around a busy schedule," as the city "already is slated to host" the NBA All-Star Game, the men's basketball Final Four and the Big Ten football championship in '21, as well as the Big Ten men's and women's basketball tournament in '22 and first- and second-round games in the '22 NCAA men's basketball tournament. For now, CFP organizers in the city "plan to have a fan fair downtown," as it did for Super Bowl XLVI. They also want to "include fans in media day festivities, are planning to hold a public tailgate party and will have venues for concerts" (AP, 1/8).
MIND THE GAP: In N.Y., Draper & Blinder noted this year's 16-day gap between the CFP semifinals and the National Championship is "much longer than it was last year (nine days) or will be next year (10 days)." CFP Exec Dir Bill Hancock said that organizers "considered moving this season's title game to Jan. 6, but found that some venues associated with the game, which leaves a vast footprint on its host city, were unavailable because of a conflicting event." New Orleans & Company, the city's convention and tourism organization, said that "approximately 25,000 people were in town this past weekend for Wizard World." Hancock said that he "did not fear that the 16-day waiting period would hurt the playoff's popularity or attention." ESPN VP/Programming & Acquisitions Nick Dawson said the gap is beneficial because the network has had two full weeks to "really design, implement and run a promotional campaign for the championship game" (N.Y. TIMES, 1/8).
