The College Football Playoff semifinal will be played at AT&T Stadium in Arlington instead of at the Rose Bowl Stadium due to the rising number of COVID-19 cases, The College Football Playoff Management Committee and Tournament of Roses announced Saturday.
Bill Hancock, executive director of the College Playoff Management Committee, says the game will still be played in the mid-afternoon window on New Year’s Day.
“We are very grateful to Rose Bowl officials and the City of Pasadena. They have worked hard to listen to the concerns of CFP, the teams that might have played there, and their state and government officials,” Hancock said in a statement Saturday night.
Governor Abbott expressed his excitement via Twitter by saying, “Everything is moving to Texas. Now the Rose Bowl. We can send them some Tyler roses.”
The College Football Playoff matches the No. 1 ranked team vs. No. 4, and No. 2 vs. No. 3 in semifinal games that rotate annually among six bowl games – the Goodyear Cotton Bowl, PlayStation Fiesta Bowl, Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, Capital One Orange Bowl, Allstate Sugar Bowl and Rose Bowl Game presented by Capital One.
The College Football Playoff National Championship is scheduled for Monday, Jan. 11 at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida.
