After months of speculation and discussion, College Football Playoffs the expansion is officially underway. The CFP agreed to a five-year media rights deal, worth nearly $1.7 billion, that paves the way for the group to expand to 24 teams in 2027, and the Power Four conference championships are being eliminated, according to On3. Pete Nakos reported.
Talks have been ongoing between the College Football Playoff and ESPN since an exclusive negotiating window opened in September. The CFP released a statement on October 9 confirming that the window had closed, but confirmed that discussions were still ongoing with ESPN about potential expansion.
$39.99 gets you a FULL year of On3 | National coverage of rivals
On November 6, the CFP released a statement confirming that it was in the “final stages” of deciding whether to expand to 24 teams. Monday morning, it became official, with the expansion expected to take place in time for the 2027-28 academic year.
“We are excited to continue our broadcast relationship with ESPN, which has been a tremendous partner of the CFP since its inception,” said the CFP executive director. Rich Clark said in a statement Monday. “Like the CFP, ESPN celebrates everything that makes college football great.
“The promotion, storytelling and innovation that ESPN brings to the CFP, college football fans and sports in general is second to none. We know this level of excellence will continue as we embark on this journey to a 24-team format.”
ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported that ESPN is preparing to pay An additional $345 million per year for a wider area. That would be on top of the $1.3 billion the network is already paying under the current deal.
Since those games are on the way out, ESPN would recoup about $140 million, Thamel reported. That means the network will essentially pay $205 million for the expanded tranche. ESPN currently owns the rights to the SEC, ACC and Big 12 title games.
“ESPN and College Football Playoff have worked collaboratively for more than a decade to make the CFP one of the premier events in all of sports, and we remain steadfastly committed to elevating it in its new, expanded 24-team format,” said the ESPN president. Jimmy Pitaro said in a statement.
“We appreciate the CFP’s trust in us as their exclusive media partner, and our continued presentation of this premier championship further strengthens ESPN as the home of college football and a destination for college sports for years to come.”
But even as media rights negotiations continued, questions remained about what a 24-team College Football Playoff would look like. As Ross Dellenger noted for On3, there were concerns regarding both television and programming it had to be fixed.
Actually, CFP games during the week are likely to result from expansion, Yahoo! Sporty reported. This would help manage potential conflicts with the NFL, which have impacted television audiences for first-round games since the creation of a 12-team bracket in 2024.
Starting in the third week of December, the NFL begins playing games on Saturdays, which already pits them against CFP games. As part of a 24-team bracket for the College Football Playoff, that would coincide with the second round.
Under the expanded CFP, first- and second-round games would still be held at campus venues as part of the expanded College Football Playoff. On3 previously reported. From there, they would travel to bowl sites for the quarterfinals and semifinals before the national championship game.
Gn sports
