The College Football Playoff and ESPN may not end up signing a new deal agreement after all.
The CFP and ESPN reached a six-year, $7.8 billion agreement on Tuesday, according to Andrew Marchand, Nicole Auerbach, Stewart Mandel, and Chris Vannini of The Athletic. The agreement would keep the playoff games broadcast on the network until the 2031–2032 season.
MAC commissioner Jon Steinbrecher, one of the 11 members of the CFP Management Committee, reportedly sent a note to his league administration on Sunday stating that such stories are “incorrect” and premature, according to Ross Dellenger of Yahoo Sports.
It ought to be mentioned According to the Athletic story, the agreement between ESPN and the CFP management committee does not mean that anything has been formalized. Instead, it was “contingent on CFP leaders finalizing details of the expanded format in the wake of the implosion of the Pac-12.”
According to Steinbrecher’s memo, neither the board of managers nor the CFP management committee has formally voted on this agreement. This is because official ratification cannot occur until the new 12-team CFP format is established.
With USC, UCLA, Oregon, and Washington joining the Big Ten, Stanford and California joining the ACC, and Arizona joining the Pac-12, college football as a whole is undergoing a period of instability and transition.
Along with separating themselves from the other conferences with their additions, the SEC—which is adding Texas and Oklahoma—and Big Ten also announced the formation of a collaborative advisory council to discuss future advancements in the sport.
Both conferences “are expected to seek a bigger cut of the revenue pie as well as a governance structure that grants them more autonomy,” according to Dellenger. This is significant because CFP commissioners are scheduled to meet on Wednesday to discuss outstanding problems like revenue allocation and format.
According to Dellenger, the 12-team CFP is anticipated to have a 5+7 format, with the field consisting of seven at-large bids and the top five conference winners.
More at-large places wouldn’t be a terrible development for the league considering it has only two institutions, Oregon State and Washington State, even though the Pac-12’s resistance delayed the finalization of such a model.
For a conference to be guaranteed a spot in the playoffs, it must consist of eight or more universities.
The CFP and ESPN currently have a contract that expires after the 2025 season.
