NHL moves start of game between Florida Panthers, San Jose Sharks to accommodate College Football Playoff championship viewing

The College Football Playoff championship game is causing a scheduling shift in the NHL. The Florida Panthers will move their Jan. 19 contest against the San Jose Sharks from to 7 p.m. ET to 6 p.m. ET on Monday evening, the same day that Miami and Indiana will play for the CFP title.

The College Football Playoff national championship game is set to kick off at 7:30 p.m. ET on Monday evening. The move from the Panthers will allow an hour and 30 minutes in between the start of the hockey match and CFP title game.

The Panthers are currently 23-18-3 on the season heading into this game against San Jose. They are coming off of a championship this past year and looking to defend their title.

As for the CFP championship, it will likely be the most-watched event of the evening. The Hoosiers enter the contest as 7.5-point favorite against the Hurricanes after back-to-back blowout wins against Alabama and Oregon.

Report: 2026 CFP national championship game pacing to be most expensive title ticket ever

Based on early presale prices this weekend, the 2025-26 College Football Playoff National Championship Game between No. 1 Indiana and No. 10 Miami may just shatter records for the most expensive title game ticket on record. Ever since both programs secured their championship game bids after winning their respective CFP semifinal games late last week, the resale ticket market has exploded.

As of Sunday evening, the cheapest single ticket for next Monday’s CFP national championship game on Dec. 19 can be had for $3,460 on StubHub and $3,705 on Ticketmaster — both for seats in the upper-level 300 sections of Hard Rock Stadium. Meanwhile, TickPick’s cheapest single ticket comes at the discounted price of $3,371 for a seat in Section 351. That’s roughly twice the get-in price for last year’s CFP national championship game between Ohio State and Notre Dame — two of the biggest brands in the sport — at $1,830 on TickPick, which was the previous record for most expensive CFP national title game ticket, according to Front Office Sports.

A significant majority of the championship game tickets are allotted to the two participating schools and initially sold through each institution. Meaning, the only way for a regular fan of Indiana and Miami that doesn’t already have a connection through those schools is the secondary market, creating a lucrative marketplace for resale organizations like Ticketmaster and Stubhub.

On3’s Alex Byington contributed to this report.