Jim Harbaugh: Players Should Get Cut of Future CFP Media Rights

When the Big Ten signed its historic mid-$7 billion media rights deal — billed as the largest for a conference in college sports history — Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh said he thought players should receive a portion of that deal, too.

Harbaugh also believes athletes should get some of the media rights for the College Football Playoff. 

The event, which already generates an average $470 million a year in media rights alone, will be expanded from four to 12 teams by 2026 — and could rake in a future media rights fee of up to $2.2 billion, FOS reported.

“I do believe the players should receive a revenue share from the massive TV deals that have been worked out,” Harbaugh told reporters on Monday.

While CFP executive director Bill Hancock didn’t go quite that far, he did tell reporters on Friday that an expanded playoff — and the revenue that comes with it — should give the organization a chance to provide athletes more benefits.

“The management committee and the board, starting last fall, were having significant conversations about some way to provide some benefits for the players,” Hancock said. “We don’t know what those will be yet.”

“Remember that players’ families have their expenses paid to the games, and certainly the players get a really nice opportunity for mementos from the games. But is there more? I think there probably is, we just haven’t dug in deep enough to know what that might be.”