Mayor Praises College Football Playoff Decision to Keep Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day

Mayor Victor Gordo praised the College Football Playoff for reaffirming the Rose Bowl Game’s traditional New Year’s Day role, citing strong television viewership and the event’s lasting place in college football history.

“On behalf of Pasadena, I thank the CFP for recognizing the enduring importance of the Rose Bowl Game on New Year’s Day,” a city official said in a statement. “In recent years, the Rose Bowl has been among the most-watched college football games in the nation, and we are proud to continue that remarkable tradition.”

The statement followed the CFP’s announcement confirming postseason schedules that keep the Rose Bowl as a New Year’s Day quarterfinal in upcoming seasons, preserving a cornerstone of the sport’s calendar.

City leaders also renewed calls for the Rose Bowl Stadium to serve as the permanent site of the national championship game.

“I am confident that one day we will all agree that the Rose Bowl Stadium should be the permanent home of the National Championship Game,” Gordo said. “It is the greatest college football stadium in the land, set in the Arroyo, framed by the San Gabriel Mountains, and located in Pasadena, a city that knows how to welcome and host the world’s greatest national and international events.”

Opened in 1922, the Rose Bowl has hosted multiple national championship games and remains one of college football’s most recognizable venues, closely tied to its New Year’s Day tradition and the Tournament of Roses festivities that precede it each year.