SEC Media Days to be held in Tampa ahead of 2026 college football season
Talking season is indeed coming to Tampa. The Southeastern Conference’s 2026 Kickoff Media Days event will next be held July 20-23, 2026, in Tampa, Fla., according to On3‘s Brett McMurphy. The SEC later revealed the four-day event will take place inside the JW Marriott Tampa Water Street hotel.
It’s the first time in the event’s 42-year history that it will be held in the state of Florida. Prior to 2018, the SEC traditionally held its annual preseason football event in Birmingham, the home to the league offices, and neighboring Hoover, Ala., until it was moved to Atlanta in 2018. Over the past few years, the SEC’s four-day event has been held in multiple markets within the SEC’s expanding footprint, including Atlanta in 2022 and 2025, Nashville in 2023, Dallas in 2024, and now Tampa in 2026.
McMurphy also previously reported Tampa would host the Florida–Georgia game in 2027 after the 2026 game is held in Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium, as well as the news the 2028 College Football Playoff national championship game will be played Jan. 22, 2029, inside Tampa’s Raymond James Stadium.
2027 College Football Playoff National Championship to be played in New Orleans
On Monday, McMurphy first broke the news that the 2027 College Football Playoff national championship game will be held in New Orleans’ Caesars Superdome on Jan. 24, 2028.
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It’ll be the first CFP national title game in New Orleans since Jan. 13, 2020, when quarterback Joe Burrow and Ed Orgeron helped LSU beat Clemson 42-25.
New Orleans regularly hosts the Sugar Bowl, which is one of the prime bowl locations for the Playoff quarterfinals or semifinals, depending upon that year’s rotation.
This year’s College Football Playoff will conclude in Miami at Hard Rock Stadium on Jan. 19, 2026. Next season, Las Vegas will be the host city at Allegiant Stadium in Paradise, Nev.