Bay Area Host Committee and College Football Playoff Celebrate Successful National Championship
Thursday, January 10, 2019
The Bay Area Host Committee (BAHC) and the College Football Playoff (CFP) hosted a press conference on Tuesday to officially conclude the 2019 CFP National Championship and highlight the accomplishments of the local organizing committee around the national championship contested at Levi’s® Stadium on January 7th. The event closed with a ceremony to handoff the hosting duties for the 2020 CFP National Championship to New Orleans.
San Jose and Santa Clara served as the epicenter for the build up to the CFP National Championship last week with an estimated 100,000 visitors descending on the Championship Campus and Championship Tailgate – including a sold out crowd of 74,814. The game registered an overnight rating of 14.6, the highest rating on cable television in the last year, with viewership peaking at nearly 28 million viewers in the first half of the game. The event generated more than 10,000 employment opportunities around the event, representing more than 375,000 hours of labor, while contracting hotel rooms in 17 different properties in the South Bay.
“This team was responsible for hosting tens of thousands of visitors, filling every hotel in downtown San Jose,” said 49ers President Al Guido. “We raised over $20 million, created the Bay Area Host Committee for future events, transformed the nation’s 10th largest city into a college campus and officially ushered in a new era of tourism and entertainment to Silicon Valley.”
“I’d be remiss if I don’t mention 49ers Vice President and Levi’s Stadium general manger Jim Mercurio and his staff at Levi’s Stadium,” said CFP Executive Director Bill Hancock. “There’s none better. Folks in this area, do not take Jim and his folks for granted because they do a great job. These major events come here because, in large part, of the stadium and it being a great facility, but it’s also extremely well-managed. So thank you very much.”
Off the field, the collective work of the BAHC led to a $1 million contribution for comprehensive educational support, impacting over 1,000 teachers and 55,000 students.
“I want to express my gratitude to Bill and the entire College Football Playoff community and team,” said Bay Area Host Committee Executive Director Patricia Ernstrom. “It really has been an extraordinary experience, and it is a great honor and a privilege to host the College Football Playoff National Championship in this market. The entire country got to witness what we all know is so special about Northern California.”
The Clemson Tigers (15-0) were crowned as the 2019 CFP National Champion in Santa Clara on January 7th, with its 44-16 win over the Alabama Crimson Tide (14-1).
Rod West, President of the Allstate Sugar Bowl, was on hand to carry the baton back to New Orleans in preparation for the 2020 CFP National Championship on Monday, January 13th, 2020, at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.
