ESPN and the College Football Playoff have agreed to a six-year deal worth $1.3 billion annually that allows the network to keep exclusive rights to the 12-team playoff through the 2031 season, two people with knowledge of the agreement told The Associated Press.
ESPN was first to report the offer of $1.3 billion annually from the network to the CFP, and The Athletic first reported that an agreement had been reached on those terms.
That deal pays the CFP $608 million for seven games annually: two playoff semifinals, a championship game and four other major bowl games.
The conference commissioners who manage the playoff talked often about having multiple television partners as they tried to come to a consensus on expansion.
Discovery and streaming platforms all expressed interest to CFP officials, but instead they are heading toward sticking with ESPN — though the network could sublicense some of the playoff games to other networks.
Persons:
Bill Hancock
Organizations:
ESPN, College Football, Associated Press, CFP, Athletic, Fox, NBC, Warner Bros ., ESPN —, AP