2026 College Football Playoff National Championship

2026 College Football Playoff National Championship
12th College Football Playoff National Championship
Date	January 19, 2026
Season	2025
Stadium	Hard Rock Stadium
Location	Miami Gardens, Florida
United States TV coverage
Network	ESPN
Announcers	Chris Fowler (play-by-play), Kirk Herbstreit (analyst), Holly Rowe and Molly McGrath (sidelines)
International TV coverage
Network	ESPN Deportes Brazil: ESPN Brazil/Disney+ United Kingdom: DAZN Italy: DAZN
Announcers	ESPN Deportes: Eduardo Varela (play-by-play), Pablo Viruega (analyst), Katia Castorena and Ciro Procuna (sidelines) ESPN Brazil: Matheus Pinherio (play-by-play), Weinny Eirado (analyst), Eduardo Zolin (analyst), and Giane Pessoa (rules analyst)
College Football Playoff National Championship  ← 2025

The 2026 College Football Playoff National Championship is a college football bowl game that is scheduled to be played on January 19, 2026, at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. The twelfth College Football Playoff National Championship will determine the national champion of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) for the 2025 season. It will be the final game of the 2025–26 College Football Playoff (CFP), and, aside from any all-star games afterwards, the culminating game of the 2025–26 bowl season. It will be televised nationally by ESPN.

Background

Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, the site of the College Football Playoff National Championship.

Host selection

On August 15, 2022, the College Football Playoff (CFP) awarded the rights to host the 2026 championship to Hard Rock Stadium. ^[1] As Hard Rock Stadium hosted the 2021 CFP National Championship, the 2026 game will make Miami Gardens the second city to host the CFP national championship twice, ^[2] after Atlanta, which hosted the championship game in 2018 and 2025. ^{[3] [4]} The stadium is the regular host of the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League (NFL), ^[5] the Miami Hurricanes football team, ^[6] and the Orange Bowl. ^[7]

The stadium was also the host of the Florida Marlins of Major League Baseball (MLB) until their move to LoanDepot Park in 2012. ^[8] In addition, it hosted four BCS National Championship Games (2001, 2005, 2009, and 2013) and six Super Bowls (XXIII, XXIX, XXXIII, XLI, XLIV, and LIV). It also hosted three matches during the 2024 Copa América, including the final, and eight matches during the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup. ^[9] Additionally, it has been selected to host seven matches during the 2026 FIFA World Cup, including the third-place match. ^[10]

Broadcasting

The game is planned to be televised in the United States on ESPN for the twelfth consecutive year, with Megacast coverage across numerous other channels in the ESPN family. In addition to the main national broadcast on ESPN, the Megacast coverage will feature Field Pass hosted by The Pat McAfee Show on ESPN2, the Command Center feed with multiple angles and live statistics on ESPNU, the Skycast on ESPNews, and a Spanish-language broadcast on ESPN Deportes. In Canada, the game will be televised on TSN. ESPN Radio will carry the national radio broadcast of the game and the WatchESPN website and mobile application will feature "Hometown Radio" feeds featuring each team's regular radio commentators.

Game summary

Scoring summary

2026 College Football Playoff National Championship

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
	-	-	-	-	0
	-	-	-	-	0

at Hard Rock Stadium • Miami Gardens, Florida

• Date: January 19, 2026
• Game time: 7:30 p.m. EST
• TV announcers (ESPN): Chris Fowler (play-by-play), Kirk Herbstreit (analyst), Holly Rowe and Molly McGrath (sidelines)

See also

• College football national championships in NCAA Division I FBS

References

1. Habib, Hal (August 15, 2022). "'A special year': Hard Rock adds college football final to jam-packed 2026 list of events". The Palm Beach Post . Retrieved November 29, 2025.
2. Nagel, Cody (October 29, 2025). "College Football Playoff locations: Tampa Bay set to host CFP National Championship in 2029". CBS Sports . Retrieved November 29, 2025.
3. "Alabama wins national championship in overtime". National Collegiate Athletic Association . January 9, 2018. Retrieved November 29, 2025.
4. Washington, Noah (May 2, 2024). "Atlanta set to host College Football Playoff for second time, supporting local education". The Atlanta Voice . Retrieved December 1, 2018.
5. "Hard Rock Stadium history". Pro Football Reference . Sports Reference . Retrieved November 29, 2025.
6. "Hard Rock Stadium". Miami Hurricanes athletics . University of Miami . Retrieved November 29, 2025.
7. "Game Day Info: The 2026 CFP Quarterfinal at the Capital One Orange Bowl". Orange Bowl . Retrieved November 29, 2025.
8. Frisaro, Joe (September 27, 2011). "Sun to set on Sun Life Stadium". Major League Baseball . Archived from the original on July 24, 2015. Retrieved August 13, 2015.
9. "FIFA names 12 stadiums set to stage historic FIFA Club World Cup 2025". FIFA . September 28, 2024. Retrieved December 1, 2024.
10. Molski, Max (February 5, 2024). "List of every 2026 FIFA World Cup match by host city". NBC10 Boston . Retrieved December 1, 2024.