ESPN and the College Football Playoff have agreed to a six-year extension worth $ 7.8 billion.
The deal, worth $ 1.3 billion per year, will keep the 12-team playoff on the network through the 2031-32 season, according to reports from The Athletic and the Associated Press.
ESPN has two years left on its current deal with with the CFP, which averages $ 608 million per year.
That deal has included both the semifinals and the championship, as well as the four New Year’s Six bowl games. Over the final two years of its current agreement, ESPN holds the rights to the first-round games of the new 12-team CFP format held on-campus, as well as the quarterfinals, semifinals and championship games.
The CFP’s current contract with ESPN runs through the 2025-26 season, and any major changes to the deal will require a unanimous decision from the CFP board.
The cost of the first-round games over the next two seasons remains unknown. The quarterfinals will be played at the current New Year’s Six bowls, whose rights were already owned — and will remain owned — by ESPN.
ESPN will also have the freedom to sublicense contests, meaning another entity would be permitted to air CFP games, but it would be at the discretion of the network.
The deal puts ESPN in control of practically every Division I college sports championships aside from the men’s basketball tournament, in which the rights are held by CBS, TNT and associated networks through 2032.
12-team College Football Playoff format breakdown
The expanded, 12-team College Football Playoff format will begin in 2024.
The playoff field will include the six highest-ranked conference champions, who will receive automatic bids. The top four teams will receive a first-round bye to the quarterfinals. The six highest-ranked teams outside of the conference champions will make up the remainder of the 12-team field.
The better seed will host the first-round games, and the quarterfinal round will be made up of bowl games.
The semifinals will rotate between bowl games, with the national title game still set to be played at a neutral site.
