Sources: CFP nearing deal for 24-team format beginning in '27 — SkimNews
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- College Football Playoff is finalizing a deal with ESPN to expand the postseason to 24 teams in 2027, with 19 at-large bids, the four Power 4 conference champions, and the highest-ranked Group of 6 team filling the field.
- ESPN remains the sole broadcast partner, negotiating within the framework of a six-year, $7.8 billion contract signed in March 2024 that runs through the 2031-32 season; a 30-day valuation window closed Oct. 9 before talks continued.
- The proposed format seeds teams 1-8 with a first-round bye and a second-round home game, while seeds 9-16 host first-round games, creating a tension between teams hovering around 9-16 and those fighting to stay in the field.
- New Year's Six bowls (Rose, Fiesta, Sugar, Peach, Orange, Cotton) are still expected to host quarterfinals and semifinals, with the national championship game remaining in January.
- Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti has been the driving force behind the 24-team model and pushed back against criticism that it devalues the regular season, citing "tiered incentives" in the structure.
- The expansion would eliminate Power 4 conference championship games, a seismic structural change arriving just two seasons after the field tripled from four to 12 teams.
- The deal would also start the college football season one week earlier, reshaping the entire calendar around the expanded playoff.
Why it matters: The 24-team field would end the Power 4 conference championship games entirely, redistributing tens of millions in revenue and prestige from those title games to the expanded playoff's home games for top-16 seeds. With ESPN's $7.8 billion contract locked in through 2031-32, the change is essentially a renegotiation of value within an existing deal rather than a new rights agreement.
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