When the College Football Playoff announced on Thursday that an expanded 12-team playoff would commence in 2024, officials were certainly excited — but also exhausted.
In a statement, CFP executive director Bill Hancock called the events leading up to the announcement “a long process.” Spokesperson Brett Daniels began a press call acknowledging the “long journey” it took to get to here — and ended it by thanking reporters for sticking with the story for 18 months.
The new format provides major benefits to multiple parties: more inventory for networks; more revenue for the CFP, conferences, and schools; the opportunity for new teams to get a shot at the title; and the possibility for local communities to benefit from hosting a game.
Even still, the year-and-a-half-long process was slowed by personal spats and contractual complications. Expansion before 2026 almost didn’t happen at all.
But as the officials iron out the final details, one thing is clear: The behemoth of college football is about to get even richer and more popular than it’s ever been.
How We Got Here
When the CFP first began exploring a 12-team playoff last summer, stakeholders appeared mostly supportive.
But that all changed in August, when Oklahoma and Texas announced they would leave the Big 12 to join the SEC, setting off a cascade of conference realignment that’s arguably still going.
It also reportedly dismantled the CFP expansion process by creating distrust among commissioners.
There were months of meetings, and no consensus. In January 2022, an unfavorable vote among conferences halted the process: The Big Ten, Pac-12, and ACC — the members of the now-defunct “Alliance” created to protect against SEC dominance — voted against expansion at the time, despite all being supportive of the idea in general.
It wasn’t until early September that the university presidents — not the commissioners — came together and said enough is enough. It was clear everyone was losing money without an expansion plan.
On a Friday afternoon before Labor Day Weekend, the group of presidents finally approved a 12-team playoff for 2026 — the year ESPN’s contract with the CFP ran out. Early expansion would require extra planning and a certain amount of finesse.
- In all, commissioners took three months to wade through issues ranging from revenue distribution reform and scheduling to whether the first round could be hosted on campuses.
- And then there was the “granddaddy” of all conundrums: The Rose Bowl asked for both timing exclusivity and the ability to host an extra game.
“We were down to the final minutes of the fourth quarter,” Hancock told reporters. “And there is no overtime.”
On Wednesday, however, the Rose Bowl relinquished those requests for the next two years. It was the last piece of the puzzle.
“There was no intention of keeping early entry into the expanded playoff from happening,” Rose Bowl management committee chairman Laura Farber told FOS, who said the bowl is “extremely pleased” to have reached an agreement.
The Newest Postseason Bracket
The College Football Playoff will look more like March Madness — or even the NFL postseason — than ever before.
The 12-team makeup will include the six top-ranked conference champions, as well as six automatic qualifiers.
That guarantees at least six conferences will be represented every year — a major shift from the four-team model, where the Big Ten and SEC have dominated: In the eight years of the CFP, they’ve taken half of the 32 spots. And in a vastly uneven landscape where the two “Super Conferences” are casting an increasingly bigger shadow over the Big 12, Pac-12, and ACC, the latter group will have a chance.
The format also ensures that at least one “Group of 5” school will make an appearance each season. That not only increases the relevancy of these conferences but creates the opportunity for a Cinderella team effect that has become a hallmark of the D-I men’s basketball tournament.
- The bracket will begin the week of Dec. 21, 2024. Four teams will get a bye, and the rest will play at a site of the higher-seeded team’s choosing — whether that be on-campus or at a separate venue.
- The New Year’s Six bowls will rotate hosting quarterfinals and semifinals. In 2024, the Orange and Cotton Bowls will host semis, with the Fiesta and Peach Bowls hosting in 2025.
- The Rose Bowl will host a quarterfinal both years at its traditional Jan. 1 date. Farber expects to maintain the 2 p.m. ET window.
- Atlanta will host the national championship on Jan. 20, 2025. Miami will host on Jan. 19, 2026. Both are at least a week later than recent years.
All of this is expected to generate extra revenue, even before all the media rights and bowl contracts expire in 2026.
The current broadcast contract with ESPN reportedly pays out an average of $470 million per year for the four-team playoff.
In the new model, ESPN will broadcast the quarterfinals, semifinals, and championship game, a source confirmed to FOS — which makes sense given that it currently holds the rights to all New Year’s Six bowls anyway. But it’s unclear whether ESPN will snatch first-round games as well.
Extra games also means extra ticket sales, merchandise and concession revenue, and even potential local economic impact.
For now, there will only be a slight change as to how that money is distributed. The current CFP formula pays money to conferences — which ends up shafting certain teams that usually make the playoff, but are part of conferences with bigger distribution splits.
In 2024 and 2025, the CFP will reportedly work to ensure Power 5 teams get a more equitable distribution amount, but the formula won’t change much.
To 2026 and Beyond
After the 2025 season, almost everything is up in the air — though when asked if a 16-team playoff might be a possibility, Hancock told reporters the 12-team format is more than likely set.
The next media deal, which will be the main revenue driver, could include more than one network — and could be worth up to $2.2 billion annually, as Front Office Sports previously reported.
During an SBJ conference this week, ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro said the network is particularly interested in maintaining rights to the championship game, “but if [the CFP] want to bring in another media partner, we’ll listen and we’ll try to be creative.”
Then there’s the participation of New Year’s Six bowl games, which will all have to renegotiate contracts to participate in the playoff in 2026. Farber told FOS the Rose Bowl, for its part, plans to partake in the CFP in the future.
Another issue that could impact the New Year’s Six: the potential success of games being hosted on campus.
All of those contracts will be revisited. “Nothing is locked in,” Hancock told reporters.
But while the first two years will be a case study, everyone expects the overall product to help college football capture even more of the sports zeitgeist.
“Everyone realized that this change is in the best interest of college football — and pulled together to make it happen,” Hancock said in the official announcement. “On behalf of the [CFP] Management Committee and the Board of Managers, this is thrilling.”
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