CFP, ESPN to continue rights negotiations to 24-team playoff - ESPN

The College Football Playoff on Saturday said it would «continue to have ongoing discussions with ESPN» regarding the media rights for a potential 24-team playoff after a 30-day exclusive negotiating window ended Friday.

Sources told ESPN that discussions were likely to continue into next week as the network would have time to consider a financial offer before the event moved to the open market.

«We continue to have ongoing discussions with ESPN regarding media rights connected to potential Playoff expansion to 24 teams,» the CFP stated. «The dialogue throughout the window has been constructive, and we will carry these conversations forward with ESPN as we determine the path ahead.»

In late September, leaders of the CFP met at Big Ten headquarters in Rosemont, Illinois, where the idea of a 24-team field originated last February. If the group moves forward with the 24-team format, which could start as soon as the 2027 season, the Power 4 conference championship games will be eliminated.

Unraveling the contracts for those conference championship games and determining their value has been a part of the negotiations, as sources have indicated to ESPN that they are collectively valued around $200 million. The Group of 6 conferences don't have to eliminate their championship games, and some have privately expressed a strong desire to keep them.

The second part of the negotiations is around the value of the additional games in a 24-team field. If ESPN and the CFP don't reach agreement, the CFP can then shop the net 10 additional games to the open market, but with ESPN retaining certain matching rights. ESPN retains control of the current 11 games (including all quarterfinals, both semifinals and the national championship game),