‘A special year': Hard Rock adds college football final to jam-packed 2026 list of events

MIAMI GARDENS — If you’re a college football fan, you ought to circle Jan. 5, 2026, on your calendar.

That’s the day the national championship will be decided at Hard Rock Stadium.

Or, if you’re a sports fan in general, you could just circle all of 2026 and make it easy on yourself.

Bill Hancock, executive director of the College Football Playoff, announced Monday that the 2026 final will be at Hard Rock, making an already crowded year for the stadium jam-packed. Besides the obvious Dolphins and Hurricanes football games, Hard Rock will host Miami Open tennis and Formula One racing in the spring, FIFA World Cup soccer matches in the summer and an untold number of concerts in-between.

“Putting on events is what we do,” said Tom Garfinkel, vice chairman, CEO and president of the Dolphins. “It's why Steve (Dolphins owner Steve Ross) made such a commitment to invest in the stadium — so we can attract events like this. And 2026 will be a special year.”

The one thing that the stadium won’t hold that year is the Super Bowl. Garfinkel said the next likely Super Bowl target for South Florida is the 2027 game.

The 2026 CFP game will mark the 22nd time the college football national championship is decided in South Florida and the second time in the CFP era. The 2021 final was at Hard Rock, but officials agreed Monday that the 2026 game, with an expected sellout crowd, will bear little resemblance to the Alabama-Ohio State game, which was held during the pandemic with social distancing in effect.

The fact South Florida successfully navigated that challenge was lauded by several speakers at a news conference at the stadium, including by Hancock, who called that game “a spectacular event” nonetheless.

“Why did the CFP come back?” Hancock said. “Because you have every attribute to put on a successful event. You have this incredible stage — just remarkable world-class facilities.”

Garfinkel said managing the overhaul of the stadium and its grounds for the inaugural Formula One race in May was "the big challenge." He said despite the loaded calendar for '26, it won't be necessary to expand his staff.

Jack Seiler, chair of the 2026 host committee, said South Florida has established itself as “a premier destination for major sporting events.”

The Orange Bowl Committee led the effort to land the 2026 game along with dozens of local politicians and universities, who were represented at the announcement. Among those in attendance: George Linley, executive director of the Palm Beach County Sports Commission.

Seiler said as soon as the committee finished with the 2021 game, “We immediately became focused on the next viable opportunity to once again bring college football’s most prestigious event back to our community, with a complete championship experience and a capacity crowd at the spectacular Hard Rock Stadium.”

The 2026 championship game will be the 12th in the CFP era. The 2023 game will be in Los Angeles, followed by 2024 in Houston. The 2025 game reportedly will be in Atlanta.

Hal Habib covers the Dolphins for The Post. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: College football championship game set for Hard Rock Stadium in 2026