| Thursday, October 1, 2026 |
SPORTS
| College Football Playoff leaders continue to discuss 24-team model | |
 | Leaders of the College Football Playoff continued to discuss a 24-team model on Wednesday but didn't vote on any calendar or scheduling changes for the 2027 season as negotiations with ESPN continue, CFP executive director Rich Clark said. "I think we've worked through a lot of the other issues that are associated with expansion, and those things needed to happen before we started any kind of a negotiation," Clark said in the lobby of Big Ten headquarters, where the regularly scheduled meeting was held. "[Money] is not the only consideration, but right now it is an unknown because we have no idea what the revenue that could be generated is." The CFP is in the midst of a 30-day negotiation window with ESPN, the sole rights holder of the event. Clark said Oct. 9 is the last day of the negotiation period with ESPN before the event goes to the open market, and the CFP has until Dec. 1 to decide if the format will change in time for the 2027 season. |
| CFP executive director: 'We have no idea' how much money a 24-team Playoff would bring | |
 | More than halfway through their window of exclusive negotiations with ESPN, College Football Playoff leaders have made enough progress on a plan to expand to 24 teams to feel confident it could be up and running for 2027 -- if the price is right in a new television deal. "I think we've worked through a lot of the other issues that are associated with expansion, and those things needed to happen before we started any kind of a negotiation," CFP executive director Rich Clark said Wednesday after a four-and-a-half-hour meeting with the management committee. Clark said the value of the media rights for an expanded Playoff is the most prominent missing piece of information as the 10 Football Bowl Subdivision conference commissioners and Notre Dame's athletic director weigh doubling the size of the field. "I would say that that is not the only consideration, but right now it is an unknown because we have no idea what the revenue that could be generated is," Clark said. "Other things we have some ideas about, and we're still working through some of those things. But the revenue is an unknown, and that's why we're in this negotiating window." |
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