ESPN and College Football Playoff Sign New Deal for the Expanded 24-Team CFP

The ongoing partnership between ESPN and the College Football Playoff (CFP) has been expanded once more, with a new deal that will include the new games that will be part of the expanded 24-team CFP.

What's Happening:

• A new deal had been reached between ESPN and the College Football Playoff (CFP) that will make ESPN the exclusive, worldwide rights holder to the expanded 24-team College Football Playoff.
• The new deal will take effect with the 2027-28 season and runs through the 2031-32 season.
• ESPN has been the home of CFP since it began in 2015 and this deal is an expansion of a six-year agreement between ESPN and the CFP that was first announced in 2024 and kicked off with the current 2026-27 season.
• The new deal secures ESPN media rights to eight CFP First Round games, eight CFP Second Round games, four CFP Quarterfinals, two CFP Semifinals and the CFP National Championship.
• Beginning with that season and its expanded 24-team Playoff, ESPN will broadcast at least three games from each of the new CFP First Round and CFP Second Round on ABC, as well as one CFP Semifinal, one CFP Quarterfinal and one CFP First Round game.
• The deal includes continued exclusive rights to all ancillary programming connected to the Playoff, such as the CFP Selection Show and weekly CFP Top 25 Rankings Shows.
• ESPN will continue to have the right to sublicense select games, on top of its existing sublicense with TNT Sports.

What They're Saying:

• Jimmy Pitaro (ESPN Chairman): “ESPN and the College Football Playoff have worked collaboratively for more than a decade to make the CFP one of the marquee events in all of sports, and we remain firmly committed to elevating it in its new, expanded 24-team format. We value the trust that the CFP has placed in us as its exclusive media partner, and our continued presentation of this premier championship further solidifies ESPN as the home of college football and the destination for college sports for years to come.”
• Rich Clark (CFP Executive Director): “We are thrilled to continue our broadcast relationship with ESPN, which has been a terrific partner of the CFP since its inception. Like the CFP, ESPN celebrates everything that makes the sport of college football so great. The promotion, storytelling and innovation ESPN brings to the CFP, college football fans and the sport in general, is second to none. We know that level of excellence will continue as we embark on this journey to a 24-team format.”