ESPN has reportedly reached a handshake agreement worth $345 million annually to expand the College Football Playoff, with ripple effects already reaching coaching contracts.
The College Football Playoff is reportedly nearing a deal to expand to 24 teams next season, according to ESPN's Pete Thamel. Under the arrangement, ESPN would pay an average of $345 million annually over the next five years, on top of the $1.3 billion average annually the network already owes for existing rights.
That new money is not quite as costly as it sounds for ESPN. The network gets back $140 million annually from the cancellation of three power conference championship games it currently broadcasts, meaning its real new outlay is closer to $205 million. ESPN's Heather Dinich separately reported that the network has reached a handshake agreement to broadcast the expanded event.
The proposed structure would include 19 at-large bids, automatic spots for Power 4 conference champions, and a berth for the highest-ranked Group of 6 school. The expansion talk has spilled beyond television contracts and into locker rooms and administrative offices. On ESPN's College GameDay, reporter Pete Thamel said coaches themselves have been pushing the money conversation up to their administrations, since a bigger playoff reshapes the stakes, and the buyout math, around coaching salaries.