Atlanta to host 2025 college football championship

by Rebecca Grapevine | Aug 16, 2022 | Capitol Beat News Service

ATLANTA – Atlanta will host the college football championship game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in January 2025, the Atlanta Sports Council announced Tuesday.

The city hosted the championship game in 2018, when the University of Georgia Bulldogs narrowly lost to rival University of Alabama. 

Atlanta is the first city to serve as a repeat host for the game.

“This is a big win for everyone involved and we are excited for the Atlanta community,” said Dan Corso, president of the Atlanta Sports Council.

“As soon as we wrapped up the successful hosting of the 2018 College Football Playoff National Championship, we were ready and eager to throw our name back into the hat,” Corso said. 

“Bringing the game back to Atlanta was a simple decision when we looked at everything,” said College Football Playoff Executive Director Bill Hancock.

“A state-of-the-art stadium, a walkable downtown with venues to host all the activities … and great people made Atlanta an obvious choice to be the first city to host a second title game,” Hancock added.

Both Republican Gov. Brian Kemp and Democratic Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens attended the press conference announcing the award of the game to Atlanta.

“We are excited that the state of Georgia and Mercedes-Benz Stadium have been selected to host the college football playoff national championship for the second time in the past 10 years,” Kemp said.

“We look forward to hosting more than 100,000 guests who will enjoy Georgia’s southern hospitality and a first-class experience.”

“Atlanta’s unmatched culture, hospitality, and infrastructure will be on full display as we welcome visitors from all over the nation,” Dickens said.

The college football championship adds to the list of high-profile sports events Atlanta plans to host over the next several years. 

The city will also host this year’s Southeastern Conference football championship, the 2025 men’s college basketball regional championship, and some 2026 World Cup soccer matches. 

In 2021, Major League Baseball was due to hold its All-Star Game at the Atlanta Braves Truist Park. However, it moved the game to Denver after the General Assembly enacted controversial election reforms. 

This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.