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College Football Playoff Will Expand to 12 Teams in 2024

  • On Thursday, the CFP announced that it would expand to 12 teams two years early, during the 2024-25 season.
  • The news came after over a year of complications from personal spats to contractual complications.
The Indianapolis Star

After more than a year of personal spats and contractual complications, the College Football Playoff has finally reached an official expansion date.

On Thursday, the CFP announced that it would expand to 12 teams for the 2024-25 season — two years early. The news follows reports that the Rose Bowl agreed to alter its contract to pave the way for the new format.

College Football Playoff To Expand To 12 Teams In 2026

The change will happen after ESPN’s current CFP contract expires.
September 2, 2022

“Everyone realized that this change is in the best interest of college football and pulled together to make it happen,” said CFP executive director Bill Hancock.

  • Round 1 will take place during the week of Dec. 21, 2024, marking the first CFP games hosted at home sites.
  • The New Year’s Six bowls will rotate quarterfinals and semifinals — but the 2024 semifinal hosts will be the Cotton Bowl and Orange Bowl.
  • The national championship games will take place a week later than usual: Jan. 20, 2025, and Jan. 19, 2026.

More Money for Media

There are still questions to be answered — including whether ESPN will broadcast the extra games and how much more money the playoff will make. While ESPN has the rights to the expanded schedule, it hasn’t told the CFP it will take them, Hancock told reporters.

The next contract would likely include more than one network and could be worth up to $2.2 billion annually in media rights fees, as Front Office Sports previously reported.

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