The marriage between the College Football Playoff and ESPN will continue into the next decade.
According to a report from The Athletic, the CFP and ESPN have agreed to terms on a six-year, $7.8 billion extension that will make ESPN the exclusive home of the 12-team tournament through the 2031-32 season.
The CFP management committee and board of managers must finalize details on the expanded format before the ESPN deal can be completed. The Athletic reported that those leaders will meet next week and continue to work out “a complicated process of settling their outstanding issues,” including how to restructure the 12-team playoff after the Pac-12's implosion.
ESPN senior vice president of communication John Krulewitz and College Football Playoff executive director Bill Hancock both declined The Athletic's request for comment.
The current deal between the CFP and ESPN runs through 2025-26 and carries an average payment of $608 million per year. It includes rights to the CFP semifinals and championship and all other New Year's Six bowl games. Over the final two years of its agreement, ESPN will broadcast the new set of first-round games and the quarterfinals, semifinals and championship games.
The new deal between the CFP and ESPN carries an average payment of $1.3 billion per year. Throughout the contract, ESPN can choose to sublicense games, which means another network or digital player could air games from the 12-team tournament. However, that would come at ESPN’s discretion.
When the deal is completed, ESPN will have rights to almost all NCAA Division I championships outside of the men’s basketball tournament, which will be televised by CBS, TNT and their sister networks through 2032. In January, ESPN and the NCAA agreed to an eight-year, $920 million contract that gives the network rights to 40 championships, including the women’s basketball tournament. That extension will start in September.
