The College Football Playoff is close to reaching a deal to expand to 24 teams, CBS Sports’ Matt Zenitz confirms. The new format is expected to debut in 2027, but final approvals are still needed.
The new format is expected to feature a “19+4+1” model with 19 at-large bids, four reserved for the Power Four champions and one for the highest-rated Group of Six champion.
The 30-day negotiating window between the PSC and ESPN was scheduled to end at the end of last week, but was extended when playoff officials activated a clause this gave the network five additional business days to review the numbers.
Playoff expansion has seemed inevitable for some time now. The only question was how many teams would be included. SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey publicly supported a 16-team playoffbut the PCP is going well beyond to double the field next year.
The CFP debuted in a four-team format at the end of the 2014 season, with Ohio State winning the national championship. A decade later, in 2024, the playoffs were expanded to 12 teams, and Ohio State was once again the first team to make the larger bracket.
Expansion to 24 teams raises even more questions on a variety of topics, including whether it means the end of conference championship games.
“They’re going to disappear,” John Talty of CBS Sports said on Thursday’s College Football Insiders following the expansion announcement. “That’s the reality of the situation.”
Brandon Marcello of CBS Sports reports that a sticking point for the conference commissioners was making up for the financial losses that would result from eliminating championship games.
Marcello estimates the CFP could offer an additional $320 million on top of the current contract, which averages $1.2 billion per year. Here are other takeaways from Marcello’s previous report on the CFP’s march toward expansion.
How the Big Ten and SEC got to 24 teams
The move toward a 24-team College Football Playoff follows a year of debate and negotiations, with the sport’s two most powerful conferences initially advocating different approaches.
The Big Ten pushed for a 24-team field, while SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey favored a 12- or 16-team structure that would preserve his conference’s championship game.
The breakthrough came in September, when the two leagues agreed to evaluate the larger bracket. Sankey had outlined the key prerequisites in a memo: compensating for lost revenue from SEC championship games and requiring at least 10 regular-season games against power conference opponents.
The Big Ten and SEC hold ultimate authority over the playoff format. Their deadline to finalize a decision was December 1.
Why replacing conference championship revenue was essential
Expanding to 24 teams required making room on the schedule, putting conference championship games — and the revenue they generate — at the center of negotiations.
CFP executives expected to seek about $70 million to $80 million more than the combined value of those championship games of nearly $250 million, sources familiar with the process told CBS Sports. This brings the potential additional annual rights to more than $320 million, on top of ESPN’s existing deal, which averages $1.3 billion per year.
ESPN’s position made the negotiations particularly consequential. The network already owns the rights to the ACC, Big 12 and SEC championship games. Industry sources said ESPN could redirect those rights toward an expanded playoff deal. Disney Advertising also manages official corporate sponsorship packages for the ACC and SEC.
The CFP’s 30-day exclusive negotiating window with ESPN expired on Oct. 9 without a deal, sources told CBS Sports. The parties had exchanged proposals but remained very divergent on the figures at the start of the week.
Despite this expiration, the CFP said in an October 10 statement that discussions with ESPN were continuing.
How a 24-team playoff would change December
The model under discussion included 23 at-large teams and a guaranteed Group of Six berth, with no automatic bids for conference champions.
CFP Executive Director Rich Clark told CBS Sports that the expanded first round and a new second round will be played on campus. The New Year’s Six bowls would host the quarterfinals and semifinals.
This structure would reshape the December calendar. With the playoffs beginning in the second week of the month, discussions included moving Army and Navy from the second Saturday in December to the first — a date traditionally reserved for conference championship games.
The result would be two rounds of on-campus playoff games before the bracket moves to the bowl sites.
What’s Next for TV Rights and Revenue
The negotiations that led to the expansion were not limited to the size of the range. They also raised questions about who would stream the additional games and how the resulting revenue would be distributed.
ESPN’s existing six-year, $7.8 billion deal extends through the 2031-32 season and covers a pool of up to 14 teams at no additional cost.
During negotiations, some people involved remained convinced that ESPN would retain the entire playoffs, sources told CBS Sports. An alternative under study was to distribute the rights between several networks to achieve the financial objectives of the CFP. ESPN retains certain corresponding rights if the package reaches the open market.
Sharing the extra money could also become a point of contention. Under the existing agreement, the Big Ten and SEC each receive about 29% of CFP revenue, compared to about 17% for the ACC and 15% for the Big 12. The Group of Six and Notre Dame split the rest.
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