College Football Playoff expands to 24 teams in 2027 under $1.7B ESPN deal

The College Football Playoff will grow to 24 teams in the 2027 season under a five-year, $1.7 billion ESPN deal announced Monday that ends the Power 4 conference championship games.

College leaders announced the new format after ESPN agreed to revise its contract. The playoff had expanded from four teams to 12 two seasons earlier.

The selection committee will choose 19 at-large teams to join five automatic qualifiers, consisting of the Power 4 champions and the top-ranked Group of 6 team. Notre Dame must secure an at-large bid under the new rules, losing its guaranteed route. For this season, the final one with 12 teams, Notre Dame is assured a place if it ranks in the top 12.

“Opening the playoff to more programs, more student-athletes and more fan bases across the country is great for college football,” said Mark Keenum, the Mississippi State president and CFP board chair.

The top eight seeds receive first-round byes. Higher-seeded teams will host games on campus through the first two rounds, while the Rose, Fiesta, Sugar, Peach, Orange and Cotton bowls continue to host the quarterfinals and semifinals.

Army and Navy will play on the first weekend in December, previously reserved for the SEC, Big Ten, ACC and Big 12 championship games. Their game has a standalone window on Dec. 4, when playoff-bound teams rest and no playoff games are scheduled.

Big Ten Commissioner Tony Petitti, whose conference drove the 24-team model, previously rejected the idea that it would diminish the regular season, pointing to “tiered incentives.” The SEC and Big Ten both needed to approve the change.

Power 4 conferences are expected to use regular-season standings and established tiebreakers to determine their champions without title games, ESPN reported, citing sources. Those leagues are counting on their members taking most of the new places, giving second-tier teams a reason to continue spending on name, image and likeness payments and $50 million football rosters, The Associated Press reported.

ProFootballTalk wrote that the agreement will produce more meaningful postseason games and fewer “Pop Tart/mayonnaise bowl games,” but players appeared to have had no seat at the table. Players will face new pressure to continue playing instead of protecting their draft stock, the site wrote.

ESPN's added payment

ESPN will pay an additional annual average of $345 million for the expanded playoff, beyond its existing average annual payment of $1.3 billion, ESPN's Pete Thamel reported, citing sources, while the AP described $345 million as the estimated value of the Power 4 title games.

Thamel's account put ESPN's effective added payment at $205 million because the network receives $140 million annually back for the canceled SEC, Big 12 and ACC championship games, whose TV rights it owns.

Fox owns the Big Ten title game's rights and is expected to receive about $50 million back each year, under the same reporting.

ESPN remains the sole rights holder, though it may sublicense six new games for exclusive distribution.

The first 24-team field will be selected Nov. 28, 2027. Play starts in December, and New Orleans remains scheduled to host the national championship game on Jan. 24, 2028.