Tuesday, the long-awaited announcement of ESPN’s broadcast rights extension with the College Football Playoff was finally made.
After ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro announced the deal during Axios’ What’s Next Summit, the official press release went out, clarifying some very interesting specifics.
There were the obvious details, specifically that the six-year extension consists of the new first-round games for the 2024 and 2025 seasons, along with the entire Playoff from 2026-2031. However, there were some interesting quirks worth noting for what they could mean in the years ahead, especially if the CFP eventually expands once more.
We’ve already talked about which schools and conferences will benefit most (and least) from this extension, but here are three aspects of the deal that really stand out for ESPN and ABC, specifically.
National Championship heading to ABC
Starting in 2026, the National Championship will air on ABC while the ESPN networks will host a collection of MegaCast broadcasts. The Championship moving to ABC from ESPN is the continuation of a trend of broadcast television adding more sports programming that has traditionally aired on cable. Airing on ABC, the title game will draw a larger number but additionally, it gives ESPN more channels to utilize for megacasts like Pat McAfee’s.
With ABC also rejoining the network Super Bowl rotation airing the 2027 and 2031 games, Disney is poised to get a very large bump in their carriage rates for ABC.
ESPN can sublicense some CFP games
While ESPN is paying $1.3 billion annually for the CFP rights, that arrangement comes with the ability to sublicence a number of those games to other networks or services. It’s been reported that the contract says they can sublicence five of the 11 games in the current playoff model each year, though that remains unconfirmed.
So if ESPN does want to do that, who makes sense? There are really only a handful of legitimate options.
First details in sublicensing option for ESPN (can sublicense 5 of the 11 games).
Most likely fit IMO is Fox taking the Friday night opening game and the opening game of the second round (ESPN doing next day tripleheaders)
Fox loves Fridays + two extra Big Noon Kickoffs. https://t.co/6G7uK19Tdo pic.twitter.com/DytlKw4D7u
— Ben Koo (@bkoo) February 20, 2024
Just like how the NFL doled out a playoff game to Peacock this year and Amazon next year, ESPN could offer those streamers a similar opportunity. The 2024-2025 season playoff schedule calls for three Saturday games in the first round and the same for the quarterfinals. Sublicensing one of those out could make sense.
Meanwhile, the CFP opens with a Friday evening game in the two upcoming seasons. We know how much Fox loves Friday night football and they might be interested in maintaining that presence beyond the regular season, especially if that game happens to include a Big Ten school.
ESPN remains the sole rightsholder even with expansion
It’s not a question of when the CFP will expand beyond 12 teams, but when. What we do know now is that whenever it does expand, ESPN remains the sole rightsholder for any additional games that are added during this deal.
It’s been rumored for some time that it’s only a matter of time before the CFP expands to 14 teams, but even if that happens and two more games are added, it doesn’t change ESPN’s arrangement.
“The hefty price tag reflects the increase in games, as the current deal was originally constructed for seven games (including the New Year’s Six bowls and the national championship) — and only three were actually playoff games (the two semifinals and the national title game),” wrote ESPN’s Heather Dinich. “The new contract is built as either 11 or 13 games — all of which are playoff games — in a 12- or 14-team field.”
ESPN might not feel like they need the two extra games, or would simply see them as sublicensing opportunities, but they’ve clearly done a good job ensuring that they won’t be on the hook to pay extra if those games are added. It pays to be the only negotiation partner.
