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.
“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.
