ESPN Can Sublicense 45% of College Football Playoff Games Under Proposed Extension; Would Fox Be Biggest Beneficiary?
ESPN Can Sublicense 45% of College Football Playoff Games Under Proposed Extension; Would Fox Be Biggest Beneficiary?
ESPN has agreed to a contract that woulda allow it to sublicense up to five CFP games every season, and Fox is the most likely landing spot for those games.
Despite the fact that the College Football Playoff is set to expand with the start of this fall’s season, there are still a significant number of details left to be resolved before we know exactly how college football fans will be able to watch this year’s 12-team playoff. Even more up in the air is the future of the CFP’s broadcasting agreement with ESPN which has been the exclusive home since the playoff debuted in 2014-15. The CFP and Disney have a contract that runs through the 2025-26 season, and despite recent reports of an extension, nothing has been finalized. However, as more details about what is on the table for both sides become public, it is looking that Fox might end up being a significant beneficiary of any eventual deal between the CFP and ESPN.
- ESPN’s deal with CFP allows it to sublicense up to five of the 11 games from the expanded playoff each year.
- Fox is already a college football broadcaster, so fans would not have to grapple with a new channel or platform to watch games there.
- Any games sublicensed to Fox could also be streamed on the joint venture platform coming from Disney, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery.
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Last week, it was reported that ESPN had agreed to a new deal with the CFP, which would see the worldwide leader in sports provide all playoff games until 2031-32. However, conflicting reporting has moved the certainty of this deal. While the CFP is still negotiating with Disney, there are a number of other factors that must be finalized before a new broadcast deal is signed.
However, The Athletic is reporting on new details of the proposed contract extension that could be a big win for Fox, as well as ESPN, if/when the deal is eventually finalized. While the two sides are often rivals when it comes to sports broadcasting rights, recent developments could make them unlikely bedfellows as the world of sports broadcasting evolves.
Under the terms of the proposed CFP media rights contract extension, ESPN would be able to sublicense up to five games per season to other outlets. The Disney-owned sports channel would have full discretion over whether it licenses the games or not, as well as over which platforms would receive its sublicensed contests.
Fox immediately stands out as the most logical partner for ESPN to partner with for a number of reasons. Primarily, Fox is already the second-biggest college football broadcaster behind ESPN as its flagship “Big Noon Kickoff” show leads into some of the biggest games of the week, including broadcasts from the Big Ten and Big 12. While CBS and NBC also air college football games throughout the season, they do not have nearly the inventory or footprint that Fox currently does.
Another reason that Fox is a good bet to secure some sublicensed games from ESPN is that the two companies are already coming together on a new streaming service. Disney, Fox, and Warner Bros. Discovery announced in early February that they would combine their sports rights onto a new streaming service, which would carry every game that fans could find on the linear channels of those respective companies. If ESPN did sublicense CFP games to Fox, the games would still stream on that platform.
There’s a good chance that some games from the CFP will end up as streaming exclusives, particularly in the wake of Peacock’s success with its exclusive NFL Wild Card game in January. Starting this season, the CFP is set to expand from four teams to 12, increasing the inventory of available games each year from three to 11. That leaves plenty of chances for Fox to snag a game or two each season, without having to pay the full amount it would need to fork over to become a full-fledged CFP broadcasting partner.
Will Fox Try to Make a New Play for CFP Rights?
The Athletic report also gives a good amount of detail on why the CFP’s deal with ESPN is not currently finalized. Essentially, ESPN is satisfied with the terms of the contract, but it has not been approved by the appropriate members of the CFP’s governing body, which is reportedly wracked with infighting.
The terms of the ESPN deal are not a serious point of contention, according to reporting. Rather, the commissioners are still trying to figure out revenue-sharing issues from an expanded playoff, as well as the format of the games themselves. Reorganization issues stemming from the collapse of the Pac-12 Conference have also caused problems. Some factions within the CFP leadership even reached out to ESPN rivals like Fox, informing them they could submit new bids of their own if they could beat the $7.8 billion value of the ESPN deal.
So far, no other broadcaster has attempted to submit a bid, but if contention between CFP commissioners continues ESPN could pull out of the deal altogether. That would leave an opening for Fox or NBCUniversal, but those companies currently have other financial priorities and are unlikely to be able to pay anything close to what ESPN can offer for expanded CFP rights.
Ultimately, sublicensing games from ESPN is the best-case scenario for Fox to get its hands on some CFP games. Now, it’s up to commissioners for the CFP to pull themselves together and make the deal official.
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