The National College Football championship game is heading back to Atlanta in 2025.
The official announcement was made Tuesday in a joint news conference with Gov. Brian Kemp, Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens and Dan Corso, president of the Atlanta Sports Council. Bill Hancock, executive director of the College Football Playoff, was also present.
The game will be held on Jan. 6, 2025, at Mercedes Benz Stadium, home of the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons and Atlanta United of Major League Soccer. The last college football national championship held in Atlanta was in 2018, when Alabama defeated Georgia in overtime. Atlanta becomes the first city to host a second national championship game since the series began.
The 2025 national championship is just the latest in a long line of national and global sporting events the city has attracted.
In June, Atlanta was chosen as one of 16 host cities for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The tournament will be played with 48 teams and, for the first time, will be held across three nations: the U.S., Canada and Mexico.
Atlanta was classified as a central region host, along with Kansas City, Dallas, Houston, Monterrey, Mexico and Mexico City. Eastern region cities hosting the tournament are Toronto; Boston; Philadelphia; Miami; and New York/New Jersey. Atlanta is also in the running as the World Cup’s 2026 international broadcast center, which will be announced at a later date.
Atlanta will host the 2025 #CFBPlayoff National Championship for the second time. 🏈
You don’t want to miss the biggest game in college football. pic.twitter.com/p3XqPH8pWS— City of Atlanta, GA (@CityofAtlanta) August 16, 2022
Last year, metro Atlanta was scheduled to host Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game at Truist Park, home of the Atlanta Braves. However, in a move lauded by President Joe Biden, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred relocated the game to Denver in response to Georgia’s then-newly passed voting registration laws.
Last month, in a letter to Manfred, Georgia U.S. Reps. Buddy Carter and Barry Loudermilk called on MLB to “redress the harm caused to the state of Georgia by moving the 2021 MLB All-Star Game out of Georgia in reaction to baseless attacks on the state’s Election Integrity Act.”
Besides the 2018 national championship game, Atlanta has also hosted the 1996 Summer Olympics; three Super Bowls; four NCAA men’s basketball’s Final Four tournaments; the annual NCAA college football SEC championship; two Major League Baseball All-Star games; and three NBA All-Star games.
Here is a list of the cities where the first 12 national championship games of the playoff era have been played or are scheduled:
- 2015: North Texas (AT&T Stadium, Arlington)
- 2016: Arizona (University of Phoenix Stadium, Glendale)
- 2017: Tampa Bay (Raymond James Stadium, Tampa)
- 2018: Atlanta (Mercedes-Benz Stadium)
- 2019: Bay Area (Levi’s Stadium, Santa Clara)
- 2020: New Orleans (Mercedes-Benz Superdome)
- 2021: South Florida (Hard Rock Stadium, Miami Gardens)
- 2022: Indianapolis (Lucas Oil Stadium)
- 2023: Los Angeles (SoFi Stadium, Inglewood)
- 2024: Houston (NRG Stadium)
- 2025: Atlanta (Mercedes-Benz Stadium)
- 2026: South Florida (Hard Rock Stadium, Miami Gardens)
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