The College Football Playoff semifinal game scheduled to be played at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California on January 1, 2021, has been moved to AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The move was announced on Saturday night in a statement from Bill Hancock, Executive Director of the College Football Playoff.
“The College Football Playoff Management Committee and Tournament of Roses have mutually agreed that, given the growing number of COVID-19 cases in Southern California, the CFP semifinal game previously scheduled to be played at the Rose Bowl Stadium will now be played at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, TX.,” said Hancock.
The relocation to the Dallas Cowboys’ stadium in Texas was prompted by California’s ban on spectators at sporting events during the pandemic. Since March, all sporting events in California have been unable to host fans and participants’ families.
Coaches and school officials in contention for the playoffs have complained about the Rose Bowl being unable to accommodate players’ family members. Coach Brian Kelly even suggested that if Notre Dame was selected to play in the Rose Bowl, the school would boycott if players could not have family in attendance.
The Pasadena Tournament of Roses made an appeal for a special exemption for the Rose Bowl Game in November and followed up with a second request earlier this week. However, both requests were denied.
“The game in Dallas will still be played in the mid-afternoon window on New Year’s Day,” Hancock said in the statement. “We are pleased that parents and loved ones will now be able to see their students play in the game.”
It has not yet been determined if the semifinal at AT&T Stadium in Arlington would still be called the Rose Bowl Game presented by Capital One. The name is part of a licensing agreement and is co-owned by the Pasadena Tournament of Roses and the City of Pasadena.
The Rose Bowl, known as the Granddaddy of all college football’s postseason games, was first played on January 1, 1902 and has been played every year since 1916.
The last time the Rose Bowl game was played outside Pasadena, California, was 1942. The game between Oregon State and Duke was played in Durham, North Carolina, because the West Coast was deemed unsafe after the attacks on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941.
The other College Football Playoff semifinal on Jan. 1 will be held in New Orleans at the Sugar Bowl, with current plans to allow 3,000 fans at the Superdome. The championship game is scheduled for Jan. 11 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida.
Photo courtesy of the Associated Press
