The College Football Playoff is moving toward finalizing a revenue-sharing agreement between participating conferences to finalize a new media rights deal with ESPN. The format of the postseason system starting in 2026 is currently under discussion.
Conference officials are meeting individually with each school this week to consider a deal that would extend them to the College Football Playoff for six more years, three people familiar with the discussions told The Associated Press on Wednesday. The people spoke on condition of anonymity because CFP internal discussions are not public.
The CFP will expand from four teams to 12 teams this fall. He has agreed in principle with ESPN on a new six-year deal worth $1.3 billion annually, and the final two years (2024 and 2025) of his original deal with the network were also re-written to increase the number of playoff games. Constructed.
But after 2025, there will be no agreement between the 10 major college football conferences and the schools participating in the playoffs.
Officials who spoke to The Associated Press said all conferences are expected to sign on to continued participation and revenue-sharing arrangements by the end of this week.
Yahoo Sports! We first reported last week that the plan being considered would guarantee more than half of the playoffs' annual distribution revenue to the Big Ten and Southeastern Conference. The Atlantic Coast Conference and Big 12 are guaranteed to be split about 30%. The bulk of the rest will be shared by the remaining bowl subdivision conferences, with Notre Dame also getting an annual guarantee.
There will also be bonus shares for conferences and schools based on playoff participation and advancement.
Two people familiar with the talks said the deal under consideration is likely to include a review period during which changes to the revenue-sharing plan could be considered.
Under the current CFP contract, the Power Five conferences, including the Pac-12, are supposed to receive about $79 million annually.
The Pac-12 has been devastated by conference realignment, with the Big Ten and SEC demanding greater revenue while backing away from demands for expanded access for teams to the playoffs.
One proposal was to expand the playoffs to 14 more teams in 2026, guaranteeing the Big Ten and SEC three automatic bids each, with the ACC and Big 12 receiving two each. Other versions, including multiple automatic bids to the Big Ten and SEC, have been proposed, but talk of the format has been shelved for now because it would not affect the media rights agreement with ESPN.
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Follow Ralph D. Russo at https://twitter.com/ralphDrussoAP and listen at http://www.appodcasts.com. AP College Football: https://apnews.com/hub/college-football
