The College Football Playoff could dole out $2 billion annually to conferences by 2027, the Knight Commission estimated in a report presented on Tuesday. That would be $1.4 billion more than current distributions.
Currently, the CFP provides an amount of around $600 million a year to predominantly FBS conferences. A small portion goes to FCS schools.
The distribution increases would be attributed to the expanded 12-team playoff structure beginning in 2024 and the assumption that the next media rights contract will rake in millions more than its current value. The media rights contract would be worth more even if there weren’t more than twice the inventory on the table.
The current deal with ESPN expires in 2026 (pays an average of $470 million annually) and could be worth up to $2.2 billion annually after the next round of negotiations, Front Office Sports reported last year. That could be partially due to the CFP selling rights to multiple networks in addition to the extra games.
The findings were part of a report where the Knight Commission, a longtime college reform advocacy group, advocated for changes to the NCAA and CFP revenue distribution models to better reflect the “values” of college sports, like gender equity and education.
