ESPN Agrees To a 6-Year $1.3 Billion Extension With the College Football Playoff
ESPN and the College Football Playoff have agreed to a new six-year, $7.8 billion extension that will make the Worldwide Leader in Sports the home of the new 12-team College Football Playoff through the 2031-32 season.
The final contract’s completion is contingent on College Football Playoff leaders finalizing the new 12-team format in the wake of the dissolution of the Pac-12.
The College Football Playoff management committee and board of managers are scheduled to meet next week and continue to work towards a finalized structure.
The ESPN deal will not be ratified until after the commissioners and presidents have come to an agreement.
ESPN’s Current College Football Playoff Runs For Two More Years
There are currently two years left on ESPN’s College Football Playoff deal, which made the network home of the two College Football Playoff semifinal games and the championship. The current deal also gave ESPN four New Year’s Six bowl games.
Over the final two years of the current agreement, ESPN holds the rights to the new set of first-round games, in addition to the quarterfinals, semifinals, and championship games. It is unclear what ESPN will pay for the first-round games over the next two seasons.
The six-year extension, however, will cost $1.3 billion a year.
The Worldwide Leard in College Sports
Following the announcement that ESPN and the NCAA agreed to a new eight-year $920 million contract earlier this year, the Worldwide Leader in Sports will now be home to nearly every Division I college sports championship outside the men’s March Madness tournament.
Interestingly, the new College Football Playoff contract allows ESPN to sublicense the games, meaning another network could theoretically acquire the rights. Such a decision would be at ESPN’s discretion.