Several resources told Pete Thamel of Yahoo Sports that the 2021 Rose Bowl, which will host one of two semi-finals of the school football playoffs, are contingency plans as the coronavirus pandemic grows across the country.
The options discussed come with outdoor play at your home in Pasadena, California, at THE AT Stadium
Thamel noted that the PSC can also move the semi-final game to Indianapolis or Atlanta, allowing the Rose Bowl to remain in its namesake, but without the fanfare that accompanies the playoffs.
Organizers move forward as if the game, scheduled for January 1, was in Southern California.
“[We] are confident that we will host the Rose Bowl game at Rose Bowl Stadium this season,” CEO David Eads told Thamel.
Similarly, CFP CEO Bill Hancock told Thamel that the committee is tracking the stage in California and still plans to keep the semifinal in place.
The challenge is the state home maintenance order, which is expected to remain in effect for Southern California until Christmas.
By Thamel:
“The resolve not to allow any fan or member of a family circle to participate in the Rose Bowl is vital because it presents a dead end between the Rose Bowl Tradition and the preference of schools and players to see families attend the game.
“The Rose Bowl has made it clear that they have asked for special permission for families to participate and so far they have been denied. This appears to be a key for them to organize the adjustment in the eyes of college sports officials. “
The last time the Rose Bowl was played outdoors in Pasadena in 1942, weeks after the Attack on Pearl Harbor, when Duke hosted Oregon at Wallace Wade Stadium.
So far, Eads believes a similar situation will have been avoided by 2021.
“In our discussions with the CFP, there was no discussion about converting the location to another year or not having us host the semifinals,” Eads said. “We are making plans for a semi-final match. And again, with the regulations that have been put in place throughout the state of California, participants would be healthy. That is the purpose of all our efforts. “
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