On Thursday, ESPN's Pete Thamel reported that the College Football Playoff was " nearing a deal to expand to 24 teams ," beginning with the 2027 season.
This may sound hyperbolic, but it's not: Nearly everyone hated the news, though nobody hates it more than Josh Pate . Amidst the backlash, Nick Saban called a spade a spade . "The bottom line is money," Saban said on The Pat McAfee Show on Friday morning.
By Friday night, Thamel reported the eye-popping financial terms.
"Sources: The average additional payment that ESPN will pay for the expanded college football playoff is $345 million annually the next five years, which is in addition to the average of $1.3 billion annually over that time ESPN is already paying," Thamel posted to X .
In a separate post, Thamel wrote , "Of that new $345 million, ESPN will only essentially be paying $205 million, as they are getting back $140 million annually from the cancellation of the three power conference championship games that ESPN owns the television rights to broadcast."
Around the time of Thamel's reporting, ESPN's Heather Dinich reported that the College Football Playoff reached "a handshake agreement" with ESPN to broadcast the presumptive 24-team playoff.
"Though there is still a significant amount of work to be done on paper, and everything is still subject to board approval across all involved parties, the agreement is a significant step closer to doubling the postseason path to the national title for next year," Dinich wrote.
ESPN holds sole media rights to the College Football Playoff, most recently agreeing to a six-year, $7.8 billion contract in March 2024, as reported by Dinich at the time. The current deal runs through the 2031-32 season.
There are still plenty of moving parts, at least outwardly. But no sport loves change for the sake of change (and money) more than college football, and yet another seismic shift seems destined to rock college football next year.
The post ESPN will reportedly pay additional $345 million annually for expanded College Football Playoff appeared first on Awful Announcing .
