Beyond the field of play, little at next year’s CFP championship at Hard Rock Stadium will look similar to the packed house at Mercedes-Benz Stdium for last year’s title game.getty images
The College Football Playoff’s hospitality offerings will be limited to suites only at Hard Rock Stadium for the Jan. 11 national championship game.
The CFP’s traditional hospitality program, named Playoff Premium, typically includes a full array of packages with hotel, tickets, pregame parties with all-inclusive food and open bar, postgame field access and keepsake items.
But Executive Director Bill Hancock, who has managed the four-team playoff since its inception in the 2014-15 season, said the upcoming championship game is shrouded in too much uncertainty because of the coronavirus pandemic to plan a robust hospitality program.
Officials still don’t know what capacity will be for the title game in Miami Gardens. In the past, the CFP has allotted 3,000 tickets for Playoff Premium, but this season as many tickets as possible will probably go to the competing teams.
“Everything is so uncertain right now and we have decisions we’ve got to make sooner than you might think because of the planning required,” Hancock said. “We’re fairly confident we’ll have access to the suites, but we’re 3 1/2 months away and things can still change.”
What won’t change is the suspension of the hospitality packages for this season. Even if conditions in South Florida improve and allow for a higher capacity in Hard Rock Stadium, the official CFP parties will take a one-year hiatus with plans to return next season in Indianapolis.
Playoff Premium has offered a variety of packages in previous years, running $2,000 to $6,000 per person depending on the accommodations and seat location for the game. All of the Playoff Premium packages sold out for last season’s LSU-Clemson game in New Orleans.
“With all of the uncertainty about the capacity and the social distancing for large events, we decided to suspend it this season,” Hancock said.
The CFP has three agencies that serve as sales partners — Colonnade Group, Dallas Fan Fares and QuintEvents — and they are selling the suites for this season’s championship game. Suites in Hard Rock Stadium accommodate groups ranging from eight to 28 people.
The CFP is still firming up the amount of suite inventory and pricing, but at past events that premium offering sold for $3,000 to $3,750 per person.
Hancock and his team are staying in close contact with the Dolphins’ front office on capacity and social distancing seating plans. A team from the CFP visited with Hard Rock Stadium officials last week in Miami Gardens.
In the Dolphins’ home opener on Sept. 20 against Buffalo, the team reported attendance of 11,075 after saying that the stadium would be capped at 13,000. That attendance figure represents about 18% of its overall capacity.
“We are watching the Dolphins and listening to the officials in that county,” Hancock said. “We’ll be watching what they do throughout the fall, and we feel lucky that we’ve got a great model in front of us.”
