The contract to host the debut College Football Playoff championship in January assumed there would be a week and a half to prepare AT&T Stadium for that milestone game.
The Dallas Cowboys are now running roughshod over those plans.
AT&T Stadium’s home team could have a shot at its first playoff appearance since 2010. That poses logistical challenges with the possibility of an NFL playoff game and the college football championship just a day or two apart on the same field.
Despite the extra work this could generate, the scheduling conflict is producing more smiles than hand-wringing for Rick Baker, president of the college championship’s host committee.
“It’s great for North Texas. It’s great for football,” he said. “If the Cowboys keep on a roll, the spotlight of the football universe would be on North Texas for that particular weekend.”
Rich Dalrymple, a Cowboys spokesman, said team officials declined to discuss playoff possibilities. The NFL has scheduled the NFC division playoffs for Jan. 10 and 11. College Football Playoff officials could not be reached for comment.
The original plan calls for the College Football Playoff to take over the stadium on Jan. 2, the day after the AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic. The organization would then have a long lead time to prepare for the Jan. 12 championship game, which replaces the old BCS championship. The game is expected to be the nation’s second-highest-rated sporting event of the year, behind only the Super Bowl.
The team and staff of the College Football Playoff understood the possible conflict from the beginning. Baker, who is also president and CEO of the Cotton Bowl Classic, said there were contingencies built into the schedule, much like emergency plans for bad weather.
“There’s nothing operationally that can’t be handled by the stadium in terms of turning it from an NFL playoff game to a national championship game,” he said.
Something similar was done as recently as January 2012, when the BCS Championship Game was played in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome two days after a New Orleans Saints-Detroit Lions playoff game.
The Cowboys previously had a fast turnaround in 2010 when the team’s final regular-season home game and the first Cotton Bowl in Arlington were played on consecutive days. Crews had to clean the stadium, replace the field, change signs and restock concession stands in 20-plus hours.
Baker said this kind of switchover is possible in many stadiums, but it’s much easier in Arlington.
The dominance of digital signage at AT&T Stadium makes that an easy fix between games. Many ads from Cowboys sponsors who don’t have deals with the College Football Playoff could disappear with a computer keystroke.
Also, there are no plans for temporary seating for the championship. The seating configuration at AT&T Stadium would be the same for the Cotton Bowl, a Cowboys playoff game and the College Football Championship.
“Those expedite a lot of the planning issues,” Baker said. “That really lends itself to ensuring that the stadium will be ready both for an NFL playoff game and for the national championship game.”
These kinds of scheduling conflicts are common, particularly in arenas that are booked a couple of hundred days a year.
In the past few years, there was a Lady Gaga concert booked on a possible Washington Wizards playoff date. There was public name-calling from organizers of a World Wrestling Entertainment event that was displaced by a Denver Nuggets playoff game. And a Yanni concert in Pittsburgh forced the Penguins and Washington Capitals to play back-to-back playoff games.
In some cases, the conflicts have even led to threats of litigation.
The Arizona Cardinals’ final home game of the 2009 season was scheduled for the day before the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl. The teams’ contracts with University of Phoenix Stadium prohibited back-to-back games, according to media reports. The Arizona Republic reported that the dispute was so intense that the head of the Fiesta Bowl was considering a lawsuit.
The games were played on consecutive days, and the Cardinals paid an estimated $45,000 for the extra work that went into the quick turnaround.
That kind of tension is less likely to happen here. The championship host committee is made up of representatives of the Cowboys and Cotton Bowl. Their jobs include making sure the championship game runs smoothly and is a success.
Baker said this Cowboys run would just add to the history that accompanies this first championship.
“Wouldn’t it be great to have a playoff game and the national championship game and the Cotton Bowl all within 12 days?” Baker said. “It’s exactly why Jerry [Jones] built this stadium.”
