College football's commissioners will have a lot more choices when deciding where to hold the 2016 and 2017 College Football Playoff championships.
At least seven cities already have decided to bid on the next two championships, sources told ESPN.
Only Arlington, Texas, and Tampa, Fla., bid on the inaugural championship. It was awarded to AT&T Stadium in Arlington and will be held Jan. 12, 2015. It was commonly known the Football Bowl Subdivision commissioners favored AT&T Stadium for the first game, which reduced the number of bidders.
That won't be the case for the next two national title games. There will be a lot more competition for the games on Jan. 11, 2016, and Jan. 9, 2017.
Cities that definitely will bid for the Jan. 11, 2016, game: Glendale, Ariz.; Jacksonville, Fla.; New Orleans; San Antonio; and Tampa.
Cities that will bid for the Jan. 9, 2017, game: Arlington; Jacksonville; Miami; New Orleans; San Antonio; and Tampa.
Cities that host the semifinals are not eligible to host the national title game in the same year. So Miami (Orange Bowl) and Arlington (Cotton Bowl) cannot bid for the 2016 national title game, and Glendale (Fiesta Bowl) and Atlanta (Chick-fil-A Bowl) cannot bid for the 2017 national title game.
Atlanta hasn't decided if it will bid on the 2016 game but is expected to be a strong contender for the 2018 game -- the first year its new stadium will be open.
Scott Jenkins, of the Rose Bowl, said it hasn't decided if it will bid on the 2016 or 2017 game. Florida Citrus Sports CEO Steve Hogan said Orlando, Fla., will not bid on either game but expects to bid on national title games after 2018.
Houston, Nashville, Tenn., San Francisco, San Diego and Washington, D.C., are other cities that have shown interest in pursuing future College Football Playoff championship games.
New York Yankees officials have said they were interested in Yankee Stadium hosting a championship game, but the stadium does not met the minimum seating requirement.
Requests for proposals for the 2016 and 2017 College Football Playoff games are expected to be sent out in the coming weeks.