Minneapolis Making Bid To Host College Football Playoff Title Game
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Minneapolis will host the Super Bowl in 2018, and the NCAA Final Four the following year. Now, the state is looking for another big sports event.
Monday night, officials were in Dallas, Texas, checking out the first College Football Playoff National Championship. They were taking notes, in hopes of finding the best way to get college football's biggest game and event to come to the Twin Cities.
"They'll be opening up the next bid period they did tell was going to cover 2018, 2019 and 2020," Michelle Kelm-Helgen, the chair of the Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority, said.
Kelm-Helgen said Minneapolis is primed to host college football's national championship game. Phoenix will host in 2016, Tampa Bay will host in 2017.
Meet Minneapolis CEO Melvin Tenant believes Minneapolis could be next on the list.
"Particularly since we've secured the Super Bowl, we've secured the Final Four, we hope that those two calling cards will give us a leg up in terms of booking this great event for our city," Tenant said.
Minneapolis can't host in 2018 because we'll host the Super Bowl that year. Kelm-Helgen said Minneapolis could bid to host the game in 2019, the same year we host the NCAA Final Four. There could also be a bid to host the game in 2020.
She said she believes the new stadium is the big reason behind the interest in Minneapolis.
"Clearly this is going to be a stadium like nothing else in the country and really in the world, so I think that these big events are potentially thinking about coming here because I think people are going to want to come here and see what is this stadium all about," Kelm-Helgen said.
Kelm-Helgen said bids are due this spring. There will be a site visit this summer, where college football will narrow down its choices before making a decision later this year in September. Other cities invited to bid are Indianapolis, Atlanta, Charlotte, Houston, Jacksonville, Orlando, San Antonio and San Francisco.