The College Football Playoff is closing in on a deal to expand to 24 teams starting in the 2027 season, according to ESPN, and the move could eliminate Power 4 conference championship games as part of the new format. The CFP 24 team expansion would also push the start of the college football season up one week, sources told ESPN.
The agreement hinges on an ongoing broadcast negotiation between the CFP and ESPN, which is expected to remain the playoff’s media partner, according to ESPN. A deal is expected to come together soon pending final approvals, though no exact announcement date has been set.
The Main Development
Under the proposed structure, the field would include 19 at-large bids along with the Power 4 conference champions and the highest-ranked Group of 6 team, according to ESPN. Seeds 1 through 8 would receive a first-round bye and a home game in the second round, while seeds 9 through 16 would host first-round games on campus.
The bracket would also include a seeding wrinkle: the No. 1 seed would face the winner of the No. 16 vs. No. 17 game, while the No. 2 seed would draw the winner of the No. 15 vs. No. 18 matchup, per ESPN.
FOX Sports reported that both the first round and the newly created second round would likely be played on campus, with the traditional New Year’s Six bowl sites then absorbed into the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds. CBS Sports reported that two rounds of campus games would be completed before the bracket shifts to those bowl sites.
Yahoo Sports reported the 2027 playoff would culminate with the national championship game at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans in January 2028.
What It Means For Conference Championships
Expansion to 24 teams is expected to eliminate Power 4 conference championship games, according to ESPN. CBS Sports reported that talks have included moving the Army-Navy game from the second Saturday in December to the first Saturday, a slot traditionally reserved for conference title games, signaling how much the December calendar could shift.
Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti has pushed for the 24-team model, arguing it includes what he called “tiered incentives” designed to keep the regular season from being devalued, according to ESPN. Not everyone in the sport favors the larger bracket. CBS Sports reported that SEC commissioner Greg Sankey has publicly supported a 16-team playoff instead.
Money And The Broadcast Deal
The expansion talks are tied directly to a new ESPN rights agreement. CFP executives are expected to seek roughly $70 million to $80 million above the nearly $250 million combined value currently attached to the Power 4 championship games, according to CBS Sports. That would put a potential additional annual rights fee north of $320 million on top of ESPN’s existing $1.3 billion annual agreement with the CFP.
ESPN already holds the broadcast rights to the ACC, Big 12 and SEC championship games, which adds complexity to any plan that removes those games from the schedule. The network and the CFP entered an exclusive 30-day negotiating window on Sept. 9 to determine the value of a 24-team field. That window closed Oct. 9, but the CFP said the following day that discussions with ESPN were continuing. FOX Sports reported any new deal would extend ESPN’s rights through the 2031 college football season, aligning with the six-year, $7.8 billion contract the two sides signed in March 2024 that runs through the 2031-32 season.
Context: How The Field Has Grown
The CFP expanded from four teams at the end of the 2014 season to 12 teams for the 2024 season, and the sport is now debating another jump just three years later. One concern raised about the 24-team proposal is a seeding bottleneck: 68 teams would compete for 23 of the spots, while 70 teams would compete for the 24th spot, rather than splitting access more evenly between automatic conference-champion bids and at-large bids.
What’s Next
The Big Ten and SEC face a Dec. 1 deadline to finalize a decision on the playoff format, according to CBS Sports. Final approvals beyond those two conferences have not been detailed in reporting so far. Readers can track related conference matchups shaping this season’s playoff picture, including previews of Florida vs.
Texas and Auburn vs. Georgia, as well as Total Apex Sports’ earlier report on the CFP’s prior progress toward a 24-team deal with ESPN.
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