College Football Playoff and ESPN Agree on 24-Team Expansion: All Details Explained

The College Football Playoff made its expansion to 24 teams official Monday, announcing a new media rights agreement that keeps ESPN as the exclusive, worldwide rightsholder of the expanded field starting with the 2027-28 season.

ESPN reporter Heather Dinich first reported the five-year deal is worth nearly $1.7 billion and eliminates the Power 4 conference championship games.

“We will make the 24-team Playoff spectacular for the fans, student-athletes, their institutions and all our stakeholders,” CFP executive director Rich Clark said.

How much ESPN is paying for the 24-team College Football Playoff

The helmets of Miami and Notre Dame are shown at ESPN's 'College GameDay' show | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

ESPN already pays an average of $1.3 billion annually under the six-year, $7.8 billion contract it signed with the CFP in March 2024, which runs through the 2031-32 season. The expanded field adds an average of $345 million per year over the next five years.

The network’s actual cost is lower. ESPN gets back about $140 million annually because it owns the SEC, ACC and Big 12 title games, so it’s paying roughly $205 million for the new inventory. Fox, which owns the Big Ten Championship Game, is expected to get back about $50 million per year.

Schools won’t see a windfall, either. Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger reported that Big Ten and SEC programs stand to gain $2.5 million to $3 million each annually, while ACC and Big 12 schools would add $1 million to $1.5 million.

Who qualifies for the 24-team College Football Playoff?

Indiana Hoosiers players celebrate with the trophy after the College Football Playoff National Championship | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

The ACC, Big Ten, Big 12 and SEC champions earn automatic bids, with each conference deciding its own champion. The highest-ranked team from the American, Conference USA, MAC, Mountain West, Pac-12 or Sun Belt also gets in, and the other 19 spots go to the highest-ranked remaining teams in the selection committee’s final rankings.

The top eight seeds earn first-round byes and host second-round games on campus. Seeds 9 through 16 host first-round games against seeds 17 through 24, with No. 9 hosting No. 24 and the winner advancing to face No. 8. The format puts 16 games on campus, up from four in the 12-team bracket.

The Cotton, Fiesta, Orange, Peach, Rose and Sugar bowls will still host the quarterfinals and semifinals. The national championship game goes to New Orleans on Jan. 24, 2028, and Tampa Bay on Jan. 22, 2029.

Where to watch the expanded College Football Playoff

All 23 playoff games will air on ESPN and/or ABC, though ESPN keeps the right to sublicense select games. ABC will carry at least three first-round games, at least three second-round games, one quarterfinal, one semifinal and the national championship game.

“We remain firmly committed to elevating it in its new, expanded 24-team format,” ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro said. The broadcast schedule will be announced later, but weeknight games are expected because the NFL starts playing Saturday games during the third week of December.

Why the Big Ten pushed to end conference championship games

Big Ten Conference Commissioner Tony Petitti speaks during Media Days | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti drove the 24-team model and accepted the trade-off months ago. “Yeah, I think it’s pretty much we won’t be playing a championship game if we go to 24,” Petitti said in July at Big Ten media days.

SEC commissioner Greg Sankey initially favored a 12- or 16-team field that would have kept his league’s title game. Still, the Big Ten and SEC hold authority over format decisions, and both signed off.

Fox Sports analyst Joel Klatt argued coaches had already soured on those games. “It’s a tax on the best teams in the sport because they’ve got to go and play an extra heavyweight matchup that is not really going to impact them all that much,” Klatt said.

How the college football calendar changes in 2027

Heisman Trophy Weekend moves up one week to Dec. 3-5, 2027. No playoff games will be scheduled against the Army-Navy game, and the CFP worked with the American Conference and CBS Sports to protect that window while keeping both academies eligible for the playoff.

The 2027 season will also start a week earlier. The CFP management committee adopted scheduling standards meant to push schools toward more nonconference matchups, and Power 4 programs must play 10 games against Power 4 opponents to be playoff eligible. Nearly every school already meets that mark, as 57 of the 68 programs have one such nonconference game set for 2027.

The expansion is mostly about access. Last season, 10-win Notre Dame missed the field by one spot and nine-win Texas missed it by three. This season, Ohio State landed at No. 12 in the first CFP rankings of 2026, a spot that would rank inside the range of first-round hosts under the new format.

The 2026 playoff remains a 12-team field, and this season’s Power 4 conference championship games will be the last under the current setup.

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