The Pac-12 is looking for a new home for their football championship game starting in 2020, according to a report by Jon Wilner of The Mercury News.
The Pac-12 Championship Game has been played at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, since the 2014 season. Prior to that, the matchup was played on-campus from 2011 through 2013.
The 2019 Pac-12 Championship Game will be played at Levi’s Stadium on Friday, Dec. 6. That is the final game of the three-year contract for the game that began in 2017, although the conference does have an option to play the game there in 2020.
According to The Mercury News, a return to hosting the game on-campus is under consideration, as is moving the game to other neutral-site locations.
The number one option for the game in 2020 and beyond appears to be the new Las Vegas Stadium, which is scheduled to be ready in time for the 2020 season. It will be the new home of the Las Vegas Raiders, after their move from Oakland, and the new home of UNLV football.
Another option for the game is Los Angeles Stadium at Hollywood Park, also scheduled to open in 2020. It will seat 70,240 and will be the new home of the NFL’s Los Angeles Rams and Los Angeles Chargers.
Los Angeles Stadium has already been selected as the site of Super Bowl LVI in February of 2022 and the College Football Playoff National Championship in January of 2023.
If the game is moved to either Las Vegas or Los Angeles, it’s likely to have a higher attendance than the game saw at Levi’s Stadium.
Below is the official “attendance” for all five Pac-12 Championship games at Levi’s Stadium, which has a seating capacity of 65,000.
- 2014 – Oregon-Arizona (45,618)
- 2015 – Stanford-USC (58,746)
- 2016 – Washington-Colorado (47,118)
- 2017 – Stanford-USC (48,031)
- 2018 – Wahington-Utah (35,134)