CFP Director Supportive of 24-Team Playoff, Endorses College Sports Bill

College Football Playoff executive director Rich Clark has expressed excitement about the prospect of 24-team Playoff.

“I am a fan of 12,” Clark said in an interview with Front Office Sports Tonight’s Matt Iseman this week. “But I’m also very excited, if we do go to 24, that it’s gonna be pretty spectacular. You’re talking about top-25 team football for a month straight. I mean, it’ll be good. But it’s hard because I love 12 so much.”

Clark’s endorsement speaks to the progress made in the room at CFP meetings throughout the summer—although, he doesn’t make the ultimate decision. Both the commissioners of the Big Ten and SEC have to agree on an expanded Playoff model in order for university presidents and commissioners to move forward on the specifics of a format. 

“We have looked at this for some time now, and a lot of thought has gone into it,” Clark said.
“And we believe that we can do this, and that it’ll be good for college football. But we have to make sure that every aspect of it—to include the financials, to include the media partners that we would connect with—that that’s all good, and that it’s right for college football.”

While the decision to expand to 24 teams is not yet final, the CFP has taken a significant step toward expansion. Last month, it triggered a 30-day negotiating window with ESPN, the media rightsholder of the CFP, for the rights to the expanded Playoff. (The window, which was slated to conclude Oct. 9, has reportedly been extended five days.) 

ESPN currently has a $7.8 billion media deal with the CFP until 2031-32 for the 12-team Playoff format (it has sub-licensed some of those games to TNT). A 24-team Playoff would create more inventory. If the CFP and ESPN can’t reach an agreement on the value of that inventory by the end of the window, the games can be presented to other networks. 

These negotiations are pivotal. To accommodate scheduling for a 24-team format, power conferences may have to eliminate their conference championship games. The SEC, in particular, has expressed concern over the potential financial losses associated with ending the conference championship game, so the media rights value of the 24-team Playoff would have to make up for those losses.

In addition to finances, there are scheduling concerns to iron out. The CFP has been in conversations with Army and Navy on the fate of “America’s Game,” which currently is the only FBS football game played the Saturday in December before the CFP’s opening round—a weekend that might end up gobbled up by early rounds of the 24-team CFP. That conundrum has also drawn interest from President Donald Trump, who signed an executive order in March requiring an exclusive broadcasting window for the game.

While commissioners, university presidents, and CFP executives continue to iron out the details, the clock is ticking for an expanded Playoff next season. The CFP must inform ESPN by Dec. 1 if the 24-team Playoff will be feasible for the 2027-28 season. 

A Key Endorsement

During his FOS Tonight interview, Clark made another endorsement he’s previously never revealed publicly: He is in favor of the bipartisan Protect College Sports Act, which passed the Senate in September and has been sent to the House of Representatives. 

When asked directly if he supports the bill, Clark said: “I don’t think I’ve ever said that in an interview before, but I totally am.” 

“I do believe that they [college athletes] should be paid,” Clark said. “I also believe that there should be guardrails and there should be a structure in place to keep it above board and to make it reasonable for a college athlete—and a student-athelte—to be able to be compensated. And I think things like the Protect College Sports Act. I think that’s a step in the right direction. A really good step.”

Among the provisions Clark believes could be helpful: the one-time transfer rule, restrictions on conference realignment, and regulations around NIL (name, image, and likeness) deals. 

“There’s a couple things that aren’t universally accepted, but I think that—and this is just me—but 80% of it is good,” said Clark, who spent most of his career in the U.S. Air Force, finishing with the rank of Lieutenant General. “And if you get a bill from Congress, Congress is great. But an 80% where people agree to it? That’s pretty awesome.”