Earlier this February, reports emerged that ESPN and the College Football Playoff reached a new agreement. A deal worth nearly $8 billion was reported that would have kept the annual playoff on the network until 2031. But those brakes have been pumped ever since that original report surfaced.
Venerable sports media reporter John Ourand reported later in the week that ESPN “could pull” the offer they made to the CFP. Ourand said that the offer was made, standing by Andrew Marchand’s report, but that the deal was not signed. However, according to new details bubbling on Sunday, that report might come into question now.
Yahoo! Sports writer Ross Dellenger published a fascinating report on Sunday morning. Dellenger wrote that one prominent college football commissioner addressed this situation head-on, but with a twist: According to this commissioner, there’s been no review at all of the newly reported deal.
The commissioner in question is none other than MAC commissioner Jon Steinbrecher. Steinbrecher, who is, according to Yahoo!, the committee’s longest-serving member who also chairs the meetings, sent a memo to college league administrators to update the situation.
“Several news outlets are reporting that a new six-year television deal has been concluded for the College Football Playoff. Be advised, these reports are incorrect,” Steinbrecher wrote according to Yahoo!. “Neither the Management Committee (commissioners) nor the Board of Managers (presidents) have reviewed a draft agreement nor has any vote been taken.”
This is an interesting wrinkle in a developing story. While it’s probably not likely that ESPN loses the CFP, things clearly need to be hashed out. How long that takes might dictate the next move, whatever that might end up being.
