ESPN has reached an agreement for worldwide rights to the expanded 24-team College Football Playoff (CFP), beginning with the 2027-28 season.
ESPN has been the home of CFP since 2015. The new deal covers eight first-round games, eight second-round games, four quarterfinals, two semifinals, and the CFP National Championship. This is up from the 11 games in the current 12-team playoff. The deal runs through the 2031-32 season, building on the six-year agreement ESPN and the CFP announced in 2024, which began with the 2026-27 season. ESPN also retains exclusive rights to all ancillary programming connected to the Playoff, such as the CFP Selection Show, weekly CFP Top 25 Rankings Shows, and more. ESPN has the rights to sublicense select games in addition to its existing sublicense with TNT Sports.
“ESPN and the College Football Playoff have worked collaboratively for more than a decade to make the CFP one of the marquee events in all of sports, and we remain firmly committed to elevating it in its new, expanded 24-team format,” said ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro. “We value the trust that the CFP has placed in us as its exclusive media partner, and our continued presentation of this premier championship further solidifies ESPN as the home of college football and the destination for college sports for years to come.”
“We are thrilled to continue our broadcast relationship with ESPN, which has been a terrific partner of the CFP since its inception,” said CFP Executive Director Rich Clark. “Like the CFP, ESPN celebrates everything that makes the sport of college football so great. The promotion, storytelling, and innovation ESPN brings to the CFP, college football fans, and the sport in general is second to none. We know that level of excellence will continue as we embark on this journey to a 24-team format.”
