NORTH TEXAS • AT&T Stadium ARIZONA • University of Phoenix Stadium Arlington, Texas Glendale, Arizona TAMPA BAY • Raymond James Stadium ATLANTA • Mercedes-Benz Stadium BAY AREA • Levi’s® Stadium Tampa, Florida Atlanta, Georgia Santa Clara, California 2 3 In its first five seasons, the College Football Playoff has paved new ground, emerging as a nationally-renowned brand and a national championship game that is one of the most elite sporting events. The national championship games have been enthralling and have been enjoyed by millions of people across the country. It all started in the summer of 2012, when a courageous group of university presidents, conference commissioners and athletics directors crafted what is now known as the College Football Playoff with the belief that the traditional postseason of our beloved sport could be made even better. Five years in, we know this vibrant format works, and the College Football Playoff continues to reach new heights. From the dedicated efforts of the selection committee to the culmination of the college football regular season, the CFP elevates the postseason, while also honoring bowl tradition and holding the student-athlete experience with the highest regard. The 2018-19 college football season provided memorable experiences for participants and fans alike, as thousands across the country reveled in the pageantry of the Playoff Semifinals and the national championship game, which was held in the Bay Area, its western-most destination to date. As we reflect on the first five years of the CFP, we also celebrate the rich history and remarkable success of the sport. What remains constant as we look to the future of the College Football Playoff is the passion and rivalry that ignites and unites college football fans across the country. We are excited about the bright future ahead! Bill Hancock Executive Director, College Football Playoff 4 5 HIGHLIGHTS 8 DIGITAL & SOCIAL MEDIA 18 COLLEGE FOOTBALL 24 PLAYOFF OVERVIEW NEW YEAR’S SIX BOWLS 30 PLAYOFF SEMIFINALS 40 CHAMPIONSHIP WEEK 50 2019 CFP NATIONAL 70 CHAMPIONSHIP COLLEGE FOOTBALL 94 PLAYOFF FOUNDATION PLAYOFF GREEN 102 FUTURE NATIONAL 106 CHAMPIONSHIP GAME SITES 6 7 8 9 10 11 PLAYOFF SEMIFINALS The Playoff Semifinal at the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic saw a sellout crowd Viewership of the Playoff Semifinal games on ESPN averaged an audience of of 72,183 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The Playoff Semifinal at the almost 20 million, up from 2015 when the Cotton and Orange bowls last Capital One Orange Bowl hosted 66,203 spectators at Hard Rock Stadium in hosted the Playoff Semifinals. Miami Gardens, Florida. 12 13 The College Football Playoff National Championship between Clemson and For the fifth consecutive year, ESPN’s MegaCast presentation offered more NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME Alabama attracted nearly 27 million viewers, becoming the seventh most- than 15 different productions for the game. watched cable telecast ever. All five CFP National Championships rank among Inside Santa Clara’s Levi’s® Stadium, a crowd of 74,814 witnessed the fifth the top 10 most-watched cable events. edition of the CFP National Championship. 14 15 2018–19 TROPHY TOUR • 125 total appearances, the highest number of appearances in five seasons • 17 sideline appearances • Six appearances on ESPN College GameDay and an additional appearance on SEC Nation AUGUST 30 Northwestern at Purdue SEPTEMBER 1 Louisville vs. Alabama (Orlando, Florida) SEPTEMBER 3 Virginia Tech at Florida State SEPTEMBER 8 Clemson at Texas A&M SEPTEMBER 15 Ohio State vs. TCU (Arlington, Texas) SEPTEMBER 22 Georgia at Missouri SEPTEMBER 29 Ohio State at Penn State OCTOBER 6 Notre Dame at Virginia Tech OCTOBER 13 Washington at Oregon OCTOBER 20 NC State at Clemson OCTOBER 27 Florida vs. Georgia (Jacksonville, Florida) NOVEMBER 3 Penn State at Michigan NOVEMBER 10 Oklahoma State at Oklahoma NOVEMBER 17 Cincinnati at UCF NOVEMBER 24 Notre Dame at USC DECEMBER 29 Playoff Semifinal at the Capital One Orange Bowl (Miami Gardens, Florida) JANUARY 7 2019 College Football Playoff National Championship (Santa Clara, California) 16 17 18 19 The official College Football Playoff website and mobile app continues to drive The CFP’s official website, CollegeFootballPlayoff.com, serves as the go-to The College Football Playoff’s social media channels engaged fans more than As part of its mobile app, CFBPlayoff: All Access returned for championship fan engagement. In partnership with SIDEARM, the CFP website and mobile source for the latest rankings and related content. Between the release of ever before in 2018-19, growing by more than 169,000 new followers across weekend, providing fans the opportunity to engage with sponsor activations app provides users with the latest comprehensive information about the the first selection committee rankings on Tuesday, October 30, and Selection Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Social conversation surrounding the CFP also and on-site experiences at various events throughout Championship Campus. College Football Playoff and the national championship game. Day on Sunday, December 2, the website saw almost 1.3 million page views grew with a 48% year-over-year increase in earned social conversation. The The program registered more than 9,400 fans during the 2018-19 football season, and nearly one million new users. Another 1.1 million page views were College Football Playoff served as the topic of over 1.8 million social media a year-over-year increase of 121%. In addition, the All Access program generated accumulated between Selection Day and the national championship game posts during the 2018-19 season, garnering over 380 million impressions from 189% more interactions per fan compared to the pervious year. Overall, the on Monday, January 7. October to January (compared to approximately 323 million impressions in the CFP’s official mobile application has seen nearly 90,000 lifetime downloads. full 2017 calendar year). 20 21 Activations from social media juggernauts Twitter, Instagram and Facebook again contributed to increased social interaction among fans, the participating teams and members of the media from Media Day to the national championship game. Fans in the Bay Area were encouraged to join the conversation and share their experience on social media, and content was then displayed in real-time in venues across Championship Campus. Thanks in partnership with Tagboard, the 2019 CFP National Championship drove over 500,000 organic social media posts and generated over 9.3 billion digital impressions during championship weekend. FIFTH ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL ACTIVATIONS The CFP, alongside Mandt Media and SIDEARM, provided fans an immersive experience through the growing technology of augmented reality (AR). By deploying the AR scanner in the CFBPlayoff mobile app, fans were able to scan their game tickets, game program covers and event signage across Championship Campus and outside Levi’s® Stadium, to gain access to exclusive content and behind-the- scenes footage. DOWNLOAD THE OFFICIAL COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF MOBILE APP, THEN USE THE AR SCANNER TO SCAN THE IMAGE ON PAGE 22 FOR AN AUGMENTED REALITY EXPERIENCE! New for 2018-19, the CFP’s Social Spotlight series brought fans a behind-the-scenes look at the selection committee rankings. Each week, radio personality and CFP social influencer Rachel Baribeau interviewed selection committee chairman Rob Mullens to offer viewers an inside look from Selection Central. Over 26,000 viewers tuned in for the weekly show that aired exclusively on Facebook Live immediately following the rankings announcements. The College Football Playoff commissioned Charles Fazzino, renowned internationally for his 3D pop art, to create limited-edition prints and posters in celebration of the fifth anniversary of the CFP National Championship. Fazzino is also an officially-licensed artist of the National Football League and the Super Bowl, creating artwork for such events as the MLB All-Star Game, the Olympic Games, Belmont Stakes, Daytona 500, Indy 500, the CMA Awards and the Grammy Awards. Fazzino’s commemorative artwork for the national championship game was then integrated into a “hashtag mosaic” fan experience, thanks to coordination with Luster. Fans visiting the activation space in Playoff Fan Central were able to take a photo as a keepsake souvenir and share it on their personal social media channels, while a sticker was made of their photo and placed on an extra-large canvas to create the mosaic. An estimated 29.3 million impressions on Twitter and Instagram were garnered from this activation, which includes 15,600 likes and 22,000 comments. 22 23 24 25 STAFF Bill Hancock Executive Director Alfred White Senior Director of Marketing and Strategic Partnerships Will Baggett Operations Coordinator Andrea Williams Chief Operating Officer Michael Bos Director of Ticket Operations Jake Wittkop Assistant Director of Marketing and Strategic Partnerships Laila Brock Senior Director of Operations and Logistics Katie Cavender Assistant Director of Communications Foundation Claudia Dorsey Assistant Director of Business and Ticket Operations Britton Banowsky Executive Director, CFP Foundation Allison Doughty Director of Events and Hospitality Services Carly Campbell Partnerships and Operations Coordinator Tim Frick Controller Wes Gentry Director of Administration and Technology Interns Ryan Allen Hall Director of Community Relations Tiffany Ancharski Hospitality and Fan Services Morgan Jones Patron Experience Coordinator Meagan Bordayo