College Football Playoff Contract With ESPN Not Finalized Yet; CFP Rep Says Reporting Is ‘Incorrect’
Recent conference realignment has thrown a wrench into broadcast negotiations as playoff structure must be determined before TV contracts.
In the words of iconic ESPN college football analyst Lee Corso, “Not so fast, my friend.” Despite reports earlier this month that Disney and the College Football Playoff Committee had reached a six-year to ESPN’s exclusive broadcast agreement for the CFP playoffs, Yahoo! Sports is reporting that this is not the case. According to documents secured by the outlet, the appropriate playoff executives have not even reviewed a draft of the new proposal and any reporting that suggests that a deal is done was not accurate.
Key Points:
- Despite reporting last week that an extension has been reached a CFP rep says that is “incorrect.”
- Previous reports indicated that ESPN had secured the playoff rights through the 2031-32 season.
- Recent conference realignment has made finalizing broadcast deals difficult.
In January, ESPN first reported that the six-year extension was nearing finalization, and then on Tuesday, Feb. 20, The Athletic reported that the deal had been agreed to, meaning that ESPN would own the rights for the expanded 12-team playoff through the 2031-32 postseason. There are two years remaining on the current deal, so with the extension, the worldwide leader in sports would control the broadcasts for eight more seasons.
However, that same day, Mid-American Conference commissioner Jon Steinbrecher — a member of the CFP Management Committee — sent a memo to conference and university administrators saying that the reporting on the subject was “incorrect.”
“Several news outlets are reporting that a new six-year television deal has been concluded for the College Football Playoff,” Steinbrecher said. “Be advised, these reports are incorrect. Neither the Management Committee (commissioners) nor the Board of Managers (presidents) have reviewed a draft agreement nor has any vote been taken.”
It was always understood that the deal reported last week would still need to go through the CFP approval process before it became official, but Steinbrecher’s message to member institutions indicates that there is far more work to be done before those I’s are dotted and T’s are crossed. However, the committee is continuing to work with ESPN toward eventually finalizing the process.
However, it is not just the intricacies of the broadcast agreement slowing down the process. Starting with the 2024-25 season, the College Football Playoff will expand from the four-team format that it has employed since its introduction in 2014-15 to a 12-team field. Due to changes in the landscape across college football, highlighted by massive conference realignment scheduled to take place at the end of this academic year, the CFP management committee has not yet officially finalized the format and structure of the playoffs moving forward.
Initially, the plan was for the six highest-ranked conference champions to earn automatic berths into the field with the six highest-ranked remaining teams receiving at-large spots in the field. However, with the Pac-12 losing nearly all of its members to other conferences, the format for the expanded playoffs is back up in the air. The CFP committee is weighing new options, including only allowing five conference-champion automatic berths (presumably the Power 4 from the ACC, Big 12, Big Ten, and SEC as well as a Group of 5 champ) and seven at-large entrants.
These details must be finalized before the committee can officially move forward with any broadcast decisions, as the future format will undoubtedly impact how ESPN and any other bidding media organizations view the product.
Conference commissioners will be in Dallas on Wednesday, Feb. 21 for a regularly scheduled meeting to discuss business surrounding the CFP. It is expected that solidifying the playoff format will be the primary order of business, which should in turn allow the CFP management committee to then address the media rights deal. So, while the deal between the College Football Playoff and ESPN might not yet be officially official, it is likely just a matter of time before the puzzle pieces are all put together.
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