Conferences, Notre Dame accept new CFP deal

• Heather Dinich Close Heather Dinich ESPN Senior Citizen Writer College football reporter Joined ESPN.com in 2007 Graduate of Indiana

• University Pete Thamel Mar 15
• , 2024, 12:05 PM ET All nine
• FBS conferences and Notre Dame have

agreed to the

next College Football Playoff contract, which will begin in 2026 and bring the sport’s postseason much more detailed to an expected 14-team field with warranties for conference champions.The memorandum of comprehending assurances that the field will have at least 12 groups in 2026 and beyond, but sources indicate there is a strong

preference for a 14-team field that includes the five highest-ranked conference champs and the next 9 highest-ranked groups. Sources caution that the precise format is not finalized, and the Big Ten and SEC will have the bulk of control over that, however others will be secured by parameters that have been put in place and can’t be changed.”Anything else relating to format is to be figured out,” CFP executive director Bill Hancock stated Friday. “This is a very important next step for

CFP, obviously, and we do still have details to be settled regarding the format, however I wish to tension that the actually excellent news is that football fans will continue to see the best groups in the country contending for the national championship on the playing field. This arrangement will also make sure the expanded access will continue to remain in place. We firmly believe this, about the significance of a competitive opportunity for more programs and more players and more fans. We’re delighted to be in the position we’re in, while we understand there’s still more work to be done.”The commissioners and Notre Dame concurred that the conference champions from the ACC, Big Ten, SEC and Big 12 and the highest-ranked Group of 5 champ would earn playoff berths, and Notre Dame will have defenses that will endure regardless of the ultimate format.With those ironclad warranties, the other commissioners and Notre Dame leadership gave up the bulk of the control over the format to the

SEC and Big Ten as”part of the give-and-take,”according to a source.Editor’s Picks

1 Related The brand-new CFP contract goes together with its anticipated new TV agreement with ESPN. Starting in 2026, ESPN is poised to invest an average of nearly $1.3 billion on the playoff for six seasons. The offer would consist of the final two years on the current CFP contract plus a new six-year arrangement for the next iteration of the playoff, sources informed ESPN.Hancock said the negotiations with ESPN for the television deal are still continuous but that the CFP is”encouraged.”” We are encouraged about the position we remain in, but we still have work to do, “he said, including that there isn’t a timetable.Starting in 2026, the new six-year agreement will codify the more monetary separation of the expanded Big Ten and SEC from everyone else in college sports. The Group of 5 commissioners were in a hard position without any working out power but faced the option of being excluded from the CFP.”It resembles the Godfather’s offer you can’t refuse,” one Group of 5

athletic director told ESPN on Thursday.Given the conference’s unpredictable status with 10 schools leaving next season, brand-new Pac-12 commissioner Teresa Gould did not sign the CFP agreement Friday.The CFP requires a conference to have 8 members for its champion to be considered for the CFP.

Hancock said the future of the Pac-12’s remaining 2 members, Oregon State and Washington State, worrying the CFP will “have to be identified under the new arrangement.””Oregon State and Washington State are qualified to participate in the CFP this year and next year, and they’ll be qualified

in the future depending on what they do, assuming they stay as FBS schools,”Hancock stated.”There will be a course for them to participate in the CFP.” The financial distribution for the expected 14-team playoff will look radically different. On an annual basis, for instance, Big Ten and SEC schools will each be making more than$21 million, up from the nearly$5.5 million that schools in Power 5 conferences are currently being paid.In the ACC, the schools will get more than $13 million annually, and Huge 12 schools will get more than$12 million each. Notre Dame is anticipated to get more than$12

million as well, and sources informed ESPN there will be a monetary incentive for any independent group that reaches the CFP. There will no longer be a participation perk for any of the other leagues– an information that was irritating to some leaders in the Group of 5. The Group of 5 schools’ annual payments will increase to just under$ 1.8 million from the present$ 1.5 million. According to sources, American Athletic Conference commissioner Mike Aresco was the most outspoken critic of the plan but wasn’t able to gather enough support from other commissioners to fight it.According to Pac-12 sources, Washington State and Oregon State are slated to make simply $360,000 as independents in the new agreement– one-fifth of what the Group of 5 schools would make annually in the brand-new agreement.Historically, Oregon State

and Washington State had actually each gotten between $6 million and$7 million yearly as members of the Pac-12. They are the only two schools getting less money in the new profits distribution agreement.In addition to both schools ranking amongst the top

30 in viewership in 2015, according to sources, part of the Pac-12’s position is that Oregon State and Washington State have been simply behind the ACC and Big 12 and considerably ahead of the Group of 5 throughout the four-team playoff age in the average variety of weeks they invested ranked by the CFP choice committee.Sources caution that the financial numbers are challenging to compare, as there is uncertainty about the great points of expenditures and circulation in the next version. However these figures for the yearly distributions will be around correct.These numbers are indicative of the changing landscape, where the money from the historical bowl relationship is now repositioned through the CFP.That’s a various circumstance for Notre Dame, which did not have a traditional bowl payment. Notre Dame management remains unfaltering in its independent status and believes it is well-positioned financially and with its access to

the playoff now and in the future, sources said.Because the Huge Ten and SEC will have a combined 34 teams and the most

CFP agents, they have likewise had the most take advantage of in the discussions. SEC commissioner Greg Sankey, who consulted with the conference presidents and chancellors this week, has said his conference has delivered 40%of the groups in the playoff.That’s also the reason for the ACC’s minor edge in profits over the Huge 12, as the ACC

has had 8 CFP semifinalists(counting Notre Dame’s appearance in 2020 as a league member), while TCU is the only staying Huge 12 group to reach a CFP semifinal as a member of the conference. Big 12 member Cincinnati earned a CFP berth in the 2020 season when it remained in the American Athletic Conference. Oklahoma(CFP appearances in 2015, 2017-19)and Texas( 2023)are signing up with the SEC next season.The huge variation in revenue between the top and bottom has actually already generated discontent and pushback from schools outside the Big Ten and SEC. To help alleviate some of those issues, sources said a” look-in”stipulation for 2028 has been contributed to offer the commissioners and Notre Dame management a possibility to review the legal agreements based upon how every league has actually performed to that point. There’s likewise a stipulation that permits that timeline to be accelerated

if there is”material adjustment”again.The CFP will use a 12-team format for the 2024 and 2025 seasons. The format for the next 2 years will be five automatic qualifiers from the 5 highest-ranked conference champs and seven at-large quotes. There is anticipated to be ongoing discussion about the format for what’s expected to be a 14-team playoff.The timeline of those crucial choices is undetermined, as it’s not understood whether college sports leaders will let one edition of the 12-team playoff play out or choose in the upcoming months.Hancock said there likewise isn’t any due date for the CFP to determine its future format.”The next few years are strong,”he stated.” I don’t sense any urgency, although I know we would all– fans, coaches, players all of us– would like to get this chosen. I wish to caution time is on our side here due to the fact that the next 2 years are in location.”This week’s internal Friday

due date was an unusual course forward for a company that has actually historically relied on unanimity to continue with any significant changes to the CFP– not just from the FBS commissioners, but likewise their respective

presidents and chancellors who represent them on the CFP board of supervisors.

Since there will be a new agreement in 2026, though, the decisions made Friday were based upon whether their desire to take part in it outweighed any viewed unfairness at the same time or format.