Minneapolis will soon find out if it will host another major sports event.
The College Football Playoff will announce Wednesday where it will play the 2018, 2019 and 2020 national championship games.
Minneapolis submitted a bid to host the title game in 2020 at U.S. Bank Stadium. The city already will host the 2018 Super Bowl and the 2019 NCAA Final Four at the stadium, which will become the new home of the Minnesota Vikings in 2016.
According to the Star Tribune, Gov. Mark Dayton submitted the bid, which includes an $8-million to $12-million fundraising effort.
“We bid for these super-sensational events because they provide jobs, because they bring people from all over the country, in fact all over the world, to the stadium to tout the virtues of living in Minneapolis, even in January,” Dayton said at the time the bid was submitted. “I’m very optimistic that we can make a competitive bid.”
There will be some tough competition for the 2020 game, though. Charlotte, North Carolina, Houston; the Bay Area, New Orleans and San Antonio are also trying to attract the game in 2020.
New Orleans, which has a history of holding major sporting events, has run across rough times winning bids the last few years.
The Baton Rouge Advocate notes that when Minneapolis beat out New Orleans for the 2018 Super Bowl it was the first time that city had not been awarded a Super Bowl it had bid on.
Additionally ‘The Big Easy’ also struck out on its bid to host any of the 2017-20 Final Fours – which Minneapolis also was awarded in 2019.
While there’s no estimate for the economic impact of hosting the College Football Playoff game in Minneapolis, Dallas-area organizers predicted an overall impact of more than $300 million after hosting last year’s inaugural playoff championship.
The announcement is expected Wednesday afternoon.
