The College Football Playoff will involve 12 teams, up from the current four, no later than 2026.
Playoff spots will go to the six highest-ranked conference champions, with the top four of those receiving byes in the first round. The other half of the field will be at-large teams. First-round games will be played on the home field of the team that’s ranked higher. The quarterfinals and semifinals will rotate among bowl games, and the championship game will be played at a neutral site, as it is now. The four-team format has been in place since 2014.
Television rights could grow to about $695 million if the expansion takes place in time for the 2024 season. The existing deal with ESPN, which expires after the 2025 season, pays about $470 million a year. The next TV contract could for nearly $2 billion a year and involve multiple broadcast outlets. That would be the richest TV deal in college sports; basketball’s March Madness is projected to start averaging about $1.1 billion per year before the decade is out.
