CFP-ESPN Deal Puts Money at Center of 24-Team Playoff

The College Football Playoff said Friday that its media-rights agreement with ESPN to expand the postseason to 24 teams is in the final stages of review, with an additional $345 million annually reportedly attached to the new games. The deal hasn’t been signed. But the CFP and the network are working through contract details that could reshape the season, including changes to existing agreements and the expected elimination of conference championship games.

The CFP, ESPN and the conferences are making those arrangements. Players and fans stand to lose a tradition Saban called important, while the proposed format adds another round of games to an already crowded December. The CFP said it will make the formal decision after its review.

A bigger field, a bigger deal

The CFP and ESPN reached an informal preliminary agreement on Oct. 16. A person briefed on the deal told The Athletic that ESPN would pay an additional $345 million annually for the new playoff games. Another person briefed on negotiations said the agreement could be finalized as soon as Monday. Both spoke anonymously because they weren’t authorized to discuss the talks publicly, and details remain unsettled.

The CFP’s statement kept its language careful: “A formal agreement between the CFP and ESPN regarding future media rights in connection with potential expansion is in the final stages of review by the CFP. A decision on the agreement will be made following this review.” Friday’s announcement marked the first progress report since the informal agreement.

The proposed 24-team playoff would begin with the 2027 season and run through the remaining five years of the current CFB-ESPN agreement. The 12-team playoff is in its third season, and this is the first year of a six-year ESPN agreement. Conferences chose to expand from four teams to 12 in 2023; now they’re reviewing another expansion.

Under the current CFP memorandum of understanding between conferences, the proposed field would reserve four spots for Power 4 teams and one for a Group of 6 team, leaving 19 at-large places. The top eight seeds would get a first-round bye and host a second-round game on campus. Seeds 9 through 24 would play first-round games at the higher seed’s campus.

The cost lands on the season

The first week of December would become an off week for CFP teams and a possible slot for the Army-Navy game. First-round games would start the second weekend of December, possibly as early as Thursday. Second-round games would follow the next weekend, while quarterfinals would remain at bowl sites around New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. The semifinals and championship game would stay at their currently scheduled bowl and neutral sites.

Nick Saban criticized the expansion during a 58-minute appearance on the “New Heights” podcast with ESPN colleague Jason Kelce and Travis Kelce. Saban said financial incentives were the main force behind the proposal. He also warned that the larger field would mean giving up conference championships, including the SEC championship.

“Playing in the SEC Championship was a big thing to our players, it was a big thing to our fans, it was a tradition, and it was a great venue,” Saban said. “There are only two teams that can play in the national championship, but more teams can play in those kinds of championship games. There’s a lot of pride in winning the conference championship. And we’re going to give that up to have an extra game, where the 24th team is going to play the ninth-best team. I’m not a big (proponent) of it.”

Saban said the expanded playoff “minimizes the importance” of the season and creates “too many games for a college football player to play in.” The Kelces agreed with his concern. He also questioned whether expansion would “create that much more revenue,” since conference championship games would lose revenue.

More teams, more uncertainty

The format’s details remain uncertain, including how 12 additional teams and an extra round would fit into December. Saban’s criticism comes amid a wider shift from conference championship games toward a playoff structure negotiated by conferences and a media-rights agreement with ESPN. The athletes play the games and absorb the schedule, while institutions decide the terms.

Saban also discussed Notre Dame ahead of its game against Miami in South Bend. The report said Miami wasn’t expected to have star wide receiver Malachi Toney, who was dealing with an ankle injury requiring a medical procedure that would keep him out for an extended period. Notre Dame debuted at No. 11 in the selection committee’s first CFP rankings on Tuesday. The Fighting Irish had one loss and no ranked opponents remaining after Miami, leaving little margin for error; a loss would likely significantly hurt their playoff hopes.

Saban praised Notre Dame’s defense, which ranked first nationally in total defense at 236.3 yards allowed per game and tied for fourth in scoring defense at 13.4 points allowed per game. He criticized the offense under CJ Carr and pointed to Notre Dame’s Oct. 17 loss to BYU, its only game against a ranked opponent that season. Carr completed 27 of 49 passes for 261 yards and no touchdowns. “Notre Dame hasn’t been able to put it together in big games,” Saban said.

The playoff system began in 2014. Now the CFP is weighing a 24-team version, but its formal agreement remains under review—and the players’ calendar is part of what the decision will rewrite.