New ESPN/TNT Sports deal will make viewing your favorite college football games a bit different this season. Let’s checkout what changes are coming with this half-a-decade deal.
What’s Happening:
- ESPN Press Room announced today that TNT Sports, a sports TV network, will sublicense College Football Playoff (CFP) games in a new 5-year agreement.
- Starting in the 2024 and 2025 seasons, TNT Sports will air the two first-round CFP games. TNT Sports will also add two quarterfinal games per year from 2026 through 2028.
- TNT and other TNT Sports platforms will be the main network televising these sublicensed CFP games.
- ESPN will air the annual CFP National Championship Game in addition to all other CFP games. ESPN will also continue to oversee the sponsorship program of the CFP.
- This year also marks the expansion of the CFP from four teams to twelve.
- 2024-25 CFP Schedule:
- CFP First Round, Dec. 20-21
- CFP Quarterfinals:
- Vrbo Fiesta Bowl, Dec. 31
- Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, Jan.1
- Rose Bowl Game Presented by Prudential, Jan. 1
- Allstate Sugar Bowl, Jan. 1
- CFP Semifinals:
- Capital One Orange Bowl, Jan. 9
- Goodyear Cotton Bowl, Jan. 10
- CFP National Championship Game, Jan. 20 (Atlanta, Ga.)
What They’re Saying:
- Bill Hancock, Executive Director of the College Football Playoff: “It is exciting to add TNT Sports, another highly respected broadcaster, to the College Football Playoff family… Sports fans across the country are intimately familiar with their work across a wide variety of sports properties over the past two decades, and we look forward to seeing what new and innovative ideas they bring to the promotion and delivery of these games.”
- Rosalyn Durant, ESPN Executive Vice President of Programming and Acquisitions: “ESPN is pleased to sublicense to TNT Sports a select number of early round games of the College Football Playoff, an event we’ve helped to grow – alongside the CFP – into one of the preeminent championships… We’re confident in the reach and promotion that this new agreement will provide as we enter the new, expanded playoff era.”
- Luis Silberwasser, Chairman and CEO of TNT Sports: “We’re delighted to reach this agreement with ESPN, providing TNT Sports the opportunity to showcase these College Football Playoff games on our platforms for years to come… TNT Sports aims to delight fans and drive maximum reach and engagement for these marquee games.”
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