On the eve of nearly a dozen college football kickoff games, the sport’s leaders are gathering to lay out — and maybe drastically alter — how a lucrative and expanded postseason will work in 2024 and beyond.

Conference commissioners and other key power brokers of the College Football Playoff are meeting in Dallas on Wednesday amid unprecedented realignment — a phenomena that has made top executives rethink what the 12-team playoff should look like come next season.

Originally, the expanded CFP was set to include the six highest-ranked conference champions — to ensure each of the Power Five conferences and one Group of Five school were represented — and the remaining six highest-ranked teams. This season, conferences will earn $6 million for each team they have in the playoff, a figure that could be even higher next year.

With the Pac-12 dissolving, a simple playoff change could be a move to the five highest-ranked conference champions and seven at-large entries. But it may not be that simple — at least one report claims no official vote will be taken Wednesday.

Leaders could be waiting to see where Stanford, California, Oregon State, and Washington State end up before making any final decisions.

Get Your Popcorn

This season’s CFP contests will be among 75 college football games that ESPN will broadcast from movie theaters. 

This weekend, the Virginia-Tennessee, North Carolina-South Carolina, LSU-Florida State, and Clemson-Duke matchups will be available to watch on the big screen. Financial details of ESPN’s new deal with Theater Sports Network are unknown, while ticket pricing to watch the games varies by location.

There’s already a major possible hiccup in the Kansas City Royals’ attempt to pursue an Atlanta Braves-type mixed-use development.

Just days after the MLB club unveiled the two candidate sites for the projected $2 billion project, officials in Missouri’s Jackson County need much more information from the Royals before any formal agreement on a new stadium is reached. 

Additionally, the county is insisting on a finalized lease extension with the Royals before introducing a ballot question that would extend a current stadium sales tax levy and help fund a new venue.

“To put [the sales tax] on the ballot without executed leases would put the county in a very bad position, so that’s kind of our stance as we stand right now,” said Shawn Foster, chairman of the Jackson County Sports Complex Authority.

The Royals are deciding between a 27-acre site in downtown Kansas City in Jackson County and a 90-acre tract in neighboring Clay County, with a final selection due next month. Timing is critical, as the Royals would like the sales tax extension on an April 2024 ballot if they stay in Jackson County, with a December deadline to make that happen.

The choice will also have significant ramifications on the NFL’s Kansas City Chiefs, who also play in the current sports complex and are looking to renovate Arrowhead Stadium.

The Royals’ current lease for Kauffman Stadium doesn’t expire until 2031, but the team is targeting a 2028 opening for its new ballpark.

Brewers’ Hope

The Milwaukee Brewers are also seeking a significant facility upgrade, and are now conveying a more hopeful tone in ongoing discussions with Wisconsin leaders about renovations to American Family Field. Prior reports suggested a potential relocation if a renovation deal wasn’t completed, but team ownership is now much more optimistic.

“We very much want to stay [in Milwaukee],” said Brewers owner Mark Attanasio. “That’s all I’ve considered at this point.”

Amazon’s path to fund its growing sports streaming ambitions will likely get a sizable boost — but is angering some of its linear rivals in the process.

Nielsen is planning to include first-party streaming data in its audience measurements, supplementing its traditional independent research, and is finalizing an effort to gain approval of the plan from the Media Rating Council, which sets industry measurement standards.

The move, supported by the NFL, is likely to elevate ratings for Amazon’s “Thursday Night Football,” in turn allowing for higher ad rates during the games. Last year, Nielsen said “Thursday Night Football” games averaged 9.58 million viewers on Amazon Prime Video, though Amazon said its internal data showed a viewership average nearly 18% higher.

The new methodology — also available to other streaming entities for live programming — will likely be an eventual sales tool should Amazon land other major live sports rights, as is its intention. 

“We are making modifications for live streaming measurement to more accurately reflect the growing impact of streaming and first-party data” Nielsen said.

But the shift has quickly drawn rebukes from leaders at linear networks such as ESPN, CBS, and Fox, who argue Nielsen is abandoning its long-held independence.

“Nielsen is about to sacrifice its most valuable attribute — impartiality — to benefit one client, one program, and one content supplier,” said Mike Mulvihill, Fox Sports president of insights and analytics.

Mulvihill called Nielsen’s decision “reckless, wrongheaded, and a slap in the face” to its clients and NFL partners.

One of the most successful owners in all of U.S. pro sports is hoping to extend his real estate development magic to his other franchises.

Stan Kroenke, who owns the Los Angeles Rams and led the creation of SoFi Stadium in California, has begun preliminary efforts to upgrade Ball Arena, the downtown Denver home to the NBA champion Denver Nuggets, the NHL’s Colorado Avalanche, and the NLL’s Colorado Mammoth he also owns — as well as the area immediately around it. 

Kroenke’s holding company, Kroenke Sports & Entertainment, said it is beginning a multifaceted process this week to upgrade the 24-year-old Ball Arena.

The emerging, arena-focused effort adds to a broader plan KSE introduced last year for a 55-acre, mixed-use development around the venue — which would include housing, downtown green space, pedestrian and bike lanes, offices, a hotel, and retail. 

Kroenke also has a separate ongoing project in Woodland Hills, California, that will create a new headquarters and practice complex for the Rams, as well as additional potential real estate projects in suburban Denver and San Diego.

The owner has won four major league titles since the start of the last year with the Rams, Nuggets, Avalanche, and Mammoth all claiming championships.

The New Stadium Trend

The overall vision KSE is advancing would be the latest in a fast-growing trend of using sports facilities as the center of sports-centered mini-cities. Other such examples either in existence or in development can be found in locales such as Atlanta, Kansas City, Phoenix, and Las Vegas.