When the Rose Bowl Game organizers and the College Football Playoff officials were able to come to an agreement, it showed a demonstration of good faith and a level of excitement for multiple parties in Pasadena.
The agreement allows for a 12-team format to begin as early as the 2024-25 season and keep the Rose Bowl Game in the rotation as one of six major bowl games to host a quarterfinal or semifinal game every year.
The CFP Board of Managers (a group made up of a chancellor and 10 college presidents) decided in September to push forward with the idea of the expansion to start as late as 2026 while exploring the option to begin as early as 2024.
Rose Bowl Game organizers were “extremely pleased” with the outcome but also understand there’s still work to be done going forward.
“The agreement was an important step to allow for the early adoption of the playoff expansion,” Laura Farber, the chair of the Rose Bowl Management Committee, told the Southern California News Group. “But there are still more steps that have to be taken as the structure of the expanded playoffs is finalized.”
The playoff will continue under a four-team format this month and for the 2023-24 season. The Rose Bowl was already scheduled to host a semifinal game in the final year of the four-team format and that is not expected to change.
The Rose Bowl also served as a CFP semifinal in 2018 and 2021, with the latter being played in Arlington, Texas because the City of Pasadena was unable to receive an exception from California to allow fans to attend during the pandemic-shortened season.
What appears to be changing, as a result of the agreement, after this year is the traditional matchup that features a team representative from the Pac-12 and Big Ten conferences to make up the oldest bowl game in the country.
While there didn’t appear to be an issue with who played in the game, there was some conversation about doing everything possible to keep the game on Jan. 1.
The Rose Bowl has historically been played on Jan. 1, and is contractually obligated with the City of Pasadena to do so, except for when New Year’s Day falls on a Sunday as it does this year, pushing the parade and the game to Jan. 2.
“Tradition has been very important,” Farber said. “The Rose Bowl Game has found ways to integrate the Granddaddy of Them All, our tradition, into the ever-evolving postseason models.
“We are confident that an expanded playoff will create an exciting postseason atmosphere and we are very supportive of the college football playoff.”
The Rose Bowl has served as a national championship game on two separate occasions during the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) era and was played away from the Jan. 1 or 2 dates. Those games were played during the 2001-02 (Nebraska vs. Miami on Jan. 3) and 2005-06 (Texas vs. USC on Jan. 4) seasons.
The Rose Bowl Game will host quarterfinal games on New Year’s Day during the 2024-25 and 2025-26 seasons in Pasadena.
While organizers did ask for an exclusive window around the Rose Bowl’s historic time slot (Jan. 1 at 2 p.m. PT), during negations that ask was relinquished and the Tournament of Roses expects to continue working with the CFP’s board of managers to fit in the playoffs rotation, according to Farber.
“We look forward to being part of that process,” Farber said. “It’s premature to say what the schedule of the expanded playoff will look like – that’s the information we do not have – but it’s our intent to keep the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1, but we will remain flexible as needed.”
Mayor Victor Gordo and the City of Pasadena are excited to welcome the expanded playoffs and what those games could mean financially for the region.
“We should all be excited,” Gordo told the Southern California News Group. “It will spectacular for Pasadena to invite the world to attend the Rose Parade and our beloved Rose Bowl Stadium immediately thereafter to watch the greatest of college football teams battle it out.”
The Rose Bowl’s involvement in the expanded playoff will allow for more options and possibilities as teams from outside the Big Ten or Pac-12 Conference can become eligible to qualify for the game. It will also allow for new fan bases to travel in and visit the region.
“The Rose Parade and Rose Bowl Game were intended as economic development tools to help attract people to Pasadena, the region and California in general,” Gordo said. “It has worked and I believe having the playoff game on Jan. 1 at the Rose Bowl Stadium will enhance that.”
“We know the Rose Bowl Game on any given year provides an economic boost to the region and the state between 200 and 500 million dollars per year. … The parade and game are especially an all-day commercial for the state and the great city of Pasadena.”
