Kelsea Ballerini to Headline Allstate Championship Tailgate; Pentatonix to Perform National Anthem at 2023 CFP National Championship

PLATINUM-SELLING SUPERSTAR KELSEA BALLERINITO HEADLINE ALLSTATE CHAMPIONSHIP TAILGATE THREE-TIME GRAMMY® AWARD-WINNING VOCAL GROUPPENTATONIX TO PERFORM NATIONAL ANTHEMFull Slate of 2023 College Football Playoff National ChampionshipGame Day Entertainment Announced

LOS ANGELES – The College Football Playoff (CFP) today announced the pregame entertainment for the 2023 College Football Playoff National Championship to be held Monday, January 9, at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California. Leading up to the national championship game, Allstate Championship Tailgate will serve as the gathering place for fans with game tickets to experience extreme tailgating. The outdoor event will take place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. PT outside SoFi Stadium. Headlining the event will be award-winning musical acts on the Capital One Music Stage, featuring multi-platinum superstar Kelsea Ballerini and rising star Tiera Kennedy. Fans will also enjoy interactive games, sponsor activations, concessions and live performances by each team’s marching band during the day.Prior to kickoff, three-time GRAMMY® award-winning vocal quintet Pentatonix will perform “The Star-Spangled Banner”. The National Anthem Ceremony will begin with the presentation of the Nation’s Colors by a Joint Armed Forces Color Guard from the Military District of Washington including members of the Army, Marines, Navy, Air Force, Space Force and Coast Guard, followed by the unfurling of a giant American flag. As part of the CFP’s salute to the armed forces, the anthem ceremony will include a video feed from U.S. troops deployed overseas watching the national championship game. Continuing a CFP tradition, drummers from the participating team bands will be included in the National Anthem presentation.Prior to the National Anthem, “America the Beautiful” will be performed by members of the Chamber Choir of the Academy of Music and Performing Arts (AMPA) at Alexander Hamilton High School in Los Angeles. AMPA is a Los Angeles Unified School District magnet program that, for the last 30 years, has served as an education model, bridging performing arts with academic standards including a rigorous curriculum.Seven Chandler, a 10-year-old from Los Angeles California, will perform both the “Star-Spangled Banner” and “America the Beautiful” in American Sign Language (ASL). Chandler attends the Marlton School, the only day school for the deaf within the Los Angeles Unified School District, the second largest school district in the United States. As part of the CFP Foundation’s Extra Yard for Teachers (EYFT) initiative, the 2022 Teacher of the Year from each U.S. state and territory will be honored on the field during the pregame celebration. This is an opportunity for fans to applaud these educators for their hard work and dedication and furthers the EYFT mission of elevating the teaching profession.Celebrating a college football tradition, the marching bands of each participating team will be featured performers on the field during pregame and at halftime. During the national championship game, the College Football Playoff will recognize Army Staff Sergeant Clint Romesha, who received the Medal of Honor during the Battle of Combat Outpost Keating in the Kamdesh Province of Afghanistan on October 3, 2009, when he helped defend the outpost against an attack by 300 Taliban insurgents. Despite receiving shrapnel wounds, Romesha continued to fight and rally his comrades. His extraordinary efforts gave Bravo Troop the opportunity to regroup, reorganize and prepare for the counterattack that allowed the Troop to account for its personnel and secure COP Keating.Pregame festivities inside SoFi Stadium will begin at 4:30 p.m. PT. The game, which will kick off at 4:45 p.m. PT, will feature the winner of the Playoff Semifinal at the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl against the winner of the Playoff Semifinal at the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl. Pregame, halftime and postgame pageantry inside SoFi Stadium will be produced by Michael T. Fiur Productions. For additional information on the College Football Playoff and the national championship game, visit collegefootballplayoff.com. Join the social conversation by using the CFP’s official hashtag, #CFBPlayoff.-#CFBPlayoff-About the College Football PlayoffThe College Football Playoff matches the No. 1 ranked team vs. No. 4, and No. 2 vs. No. 3 in semifinal games that rotate annually among six bowl games – the Goodyear Cotton Bowl, Vrbo Fiesta Bowl, Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, Capital One Orange Bowl, Allstate Sugar Bowl and Rose Bowl Game presented by Prudential. This season’s Playoff Semifinals will take place Saturday, December 31, 2022 at the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl and Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl. The Los Angeles region will host the College Football Playoff National Championship on Monday, January 9, 2023, at SoFi Stadium.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS KELSEA BALLERINIKelsea Ballerini has consistently made history. Upon the release of her debut album, she became the only female country artist to hit #1 with her first three consecutive singles from a debut album, a history-making feat for Ballerini and helped earn the honeyed alto a Best New Artist GRAMMY® nomination. She has logged five back-to-back Top-10 entries on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart. With seven #1 singles and 31 certifications from the RIAA to date, her catalog boasts a string of essential smashes. Among dozens of accolades thus far, she has garnered three GRAMMY® Award nominations and won two Academy of Country Music (ACM) Awards, two Country Music Association (CMA) Awards and the iHeartRadio Music Awards honor for “Best New Artist,” while also receiving multiple career nominations from the ACM Awards, American Music Awards, CMA Awards, CMT Awards and People’s Choice Awards. Ballerini’s fourth album, SUBJECT TO CHANGE, was released on September 23, 2022. The first single off the album, “HEARTFIRST,” quickly took over airwaves and was notably the “most added song at country radio” the week of its release. Most recently, Ballerini earned a GRAMMY® nomination for “Best Country Solo Performance” for “HEARTFIRST.” Kelsea Ballerini is ready to continue making history in 2023 and beyond. TIERA KENNEDYTiera Kennedy is emerging as one of the most exciting voices in the format as the flagship artist on Nicolle Galyon’s groundbreaking Songs & Daughters Publishing. On the heels of her independently released self-titled EP, the breakout single “Found It In You,” co-written/produced by Cameron Bedell and featuring Dann Huff is available now via The Valory Music Co. The songwriter distills all the joyousness of nightfall in the towns of her home state with “Alabama Nights,” while sprinkling Christmas magic with “Blue Christmas” and “I’ll Be Home For Christmas.” Landing on several of 2022’s Artist to Watch Lists, including CMT’s Listen Up, MusicRow’s Next Big Thing and Pandora’s Country Artist to Watch, Kennedy has appeared at C2C: Country to Country, CMA Fest, Faster Horses and Windy City Smokeout. As the host of Apple Music Country’s The Tiera Show, Kennedy puts her stamp on Country music daily. Most recently, Tiera Kennedy made her debut on NBC’s TODAY in New York City, as well as her debut at the historic Ryman Auditorium honoring Shania Twain with a performance of “From This Moment On” on FOX’s ACM Honors. PENTATONIXPrior to kickoff, three-time GRAMMY® Award-winning and Daytime EMMY® Award-nominated vocal quintet Pentatonix will perform “The Star-Spangled Banner.” Pentatonix reimagine, reinvigorate, and redefine a cappella. Since emerging in 2011, the three-time GRAMMY® Award-winning vocal quintet have reached unprecedented heights, selling 10 million albums worldwide, generating billions of streams and toppling charts with back-to-back #1 albums. Following the release of their 2021 album Evergreen, which tallied over 100 million streams and recently earning the group a GRAMMY® nomination for “Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album,” Pentatonix launched Pentatonix: The Evergreen Christmas Tour. Their most recent album, Holidays Around the World, was released on October 28, 2022 and marked the group’s ninth Top-10 entry on Billboard’s Top Holiday Albums Chart. The group is currently out on their largest Christmas tour to date, selling out arenas across the US. Reaching fans everywhere, Pentatonix also premiered their special, “Pentatonix: Around the World for the Holidays,” on Disney+ this December. In 2022, it was announced that the group will be receiving a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.