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Post by bigdawgs on Feb 13, 2024 14:52:04 GMT -5
ESPN and the College Football Playoff reportedly agreed to a massive new television rights deal, according to The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand.
“NEWS: ESPN and the College Football Playoff are in agreement on a 6-year, $7.8 billion rights extension pending the CFP resolving all of its outstanding issues, The Athletic has learned,” Marchand wrote on Twitter.
With that, the new playoff expansion will see plenty of time on the four-letter network.
The network will host the 12-team playoff through the 2031-32 season, according to the report. The full contract still has yet to be completed though.
“The full contract’s completion is still contingent on CFP leaders finalizing details of the expanded format in the wake of the implosion of the Pac-12,” Marchand wrote. “The CFP’s management committee and board of managers have meetings scheduled for next week and continue to work through the complicated process of settling their outstanding issues.
“The ESPN deal will not be ratified until the commissioners and presidents vote on the structure and financials of the expanded CFP. ESPN senior vice president of communication Josh Krulewitz and College Football Playoff executive director Bill Hancock both declined comment.”
As far as control of all playoff games, it get’s really interesting after the final two years of the current deal for ESPN and the playoff.
“Over the final two years of its current agreement, ESPN holds the rights to the new set of first-round games held at on-campus site, in addition to the quarterfinals, semifinals and championship games,” Marchand wrote. “It is not yet known what the fee of the first-round games will be for the next two seasons. The quarterfinals will be played at current New Year’s Six bowls, whose rights were already owned by ESPN.”
Change is on the horizon for the College Football Playoff and ESPN’s Heather Dinich provided fans with a forecast of what’s to come. During an appearance on The Paul Finebaum Show, Dinich reported how the CFP selection committee will pick teams for the 12-team CFP.
“It’s going to be really fun,” Dinich said. “What college football fans need to get ready for is how different the seeding is going to look from the selection committee’s Top 25. What I mean by that is, let’s just say you have Georgia as the No. 1 seed and Alabama as the No. 2 seed, hypothetically.
“If Georgia wins the SEC, Alabama at No. 2 in the seeding is going to drop to No. 5 because the four highest-ranked conference champions are going to be seeded one through four and earn first-round byes. It’s a different method of what the bracket is going to look like, so that’s important.”
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Post by bigdawgs on Feb 13, 2024 14:54:10 GMT -5
So instead of multiple networks getting a piece of the pie, it will be Donald and company running the show. Herbie, better get yourself ready. The conspiracy gang will be loaded for bear when it is the 5 conference champions and 7 SEC teams.
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Post by bigdawgs on Feb 18, 2024 17:24:15 GMT -5
The College Football Playoff has not agreed to a new television contract, according to at least one member of the CFP Management Committee.
In a memo sent to his league administrators, MAC commissioner Jon Steinbrecher described reports of the CFP agreeing to or having concluded an extension of the media rights deal with ESPN as “incorrect.” In fact, Steinbrecher, the longest-serving member of the 11-person management committee who often chairs the committee’s meetings, told administrators that commissioners and their corresponding presidents on the CFP Board of Managers have not reviewed a draft of a potential new deal.
Yahoo Sports obtained a copy of the email through an open records request.
“Several news outlets are reporting that a new six-year television deal has been concluded for the College Football Playoff,” Steinbrecher wrote in an email dated Feb. 13. “Be advised, these reports are incorrect. Neither the Management Committee (commissioners) nor the Board of Managers (presidents) have reviewed a draft agreement nor has any vote been taken.”
In typical protocol, the CFP Management Committee, the 11 conference commissioners and Notre Dame’s athletic director, would make a recommendation to the Board of Managers for the adoption of any CFP decisions. The Board of Managers is the highest ranking governance body of the CFP.
While the CFP continues to work toward an extension with ESPN, no deal can be formally agreed to or signed because of a litany of unresolved matters related to the long-term structure of the playoff, multiple commissioners tell Yahoo Sports.
Six weeks ago, ESPN itself reported that the network was in the midst of negotiations with the CFP to remain its exclusive rights-holder, with the parties negotiating a six-year extension through 2031 worth about $1.3 billion annually. Earlier this week, The Athletic, reporting the same terms as ESPN’s original report, published a story that the CFP and ESPN had “agreed” to the deal, noting the unfinished issues lingering around the future structure of the playoff.
This college football offseason threatens to be the most impactful in the industry’s history.
While the NCAA and power leagues explore a new athlete compensation model, postseason events such as the CFP and NCAA tournament are likely in for dramatic change as part of a complete “audit” and “reset” of college sports, as Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark described to Yahoo Sports.
The CFP is at the center of change with a somewhat urgent timeline.
The television contract with ESPN binds the 10 FBS leagues together for the postseason football championship. There is no binding contract beyond the final year of the deal in 2025, a precarious position made more unsteady given recent comments from SEC and Big Ten leaders.
In an interview with Yahoo Sports earlier this month, SEC commissioner Greg Sankey and Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti expressed doubts for the first time publicly in their commitment to the future of the CFP if leaders can’t “get right” a litany of issues. Their comments came on the heels of an announcement Feb. 2 that the leagues were forming a joint advisory board to study the future of college athletics.
Asked if he was committed to the CFP beyond 2025, Sankey said, “Yep, but we’ve got a lot to get right. The commitment is we want to see this get right.”
CFP commissioners meet again Wednesday in Dallas to further examine some of these unresolved, pressing issues, most notably a new revenue-distribution model, voting structure and, possibly even, format.
With their expansion of some of college football’s biggest brands, the SEC and Big Ten are expected to seek a bigger cut of the revenue pie as well as a governance structure that grants them more autonomy. The format, too, is still somewhat unresolved. At least a portion of that could change this week.
On Tuesday, the CFP Board of Managers is expected to vote on a move from a 6+6 format to a 5+7 format in the 12-team expanded playoff format for the next two years — a decision that was delayed last month because of pushback from the Pac-12. The decision needs unanimity from the 11-member Board of Managers of which the Pac-12 remains a full voting member.
Washington State president Kirk Schulz, the conference’s representative on the board, delayed the 5+7 while WSU and Oregon State officials organized a proposal that he expects to present to board members Tuesday. The Pac-12 is seeking to be considered a power league, with P5 voting rights and revenue distribution, for years beyond 2025.
In an interview last week, Schulz acknowledged that the 5+7 change benefits the Pac-12’s remaining schools as it increases at-large spots. The league is not eligible for an automatic berth in the playoff because it falls short of the membership minimum needed for such (eight schools) — a change that commissioners adopted in November.
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Post by bigdawgs on Feb 20, 2024 11:38:49 GMT -5
The College Football Playoff committee unanimously revised the qualifying criteria for the 12-team event Tuesday. The 5+7 format is here.
It’ll be the five highest ranked conference champions plus the next seven highest ranked teams as determined by the CFP committee. It was all made official Tuesday after meetings.
“This is a very logical adjustment for the College Football Playoff based on the evolution of our conference structures since the board first adopted this new format in September 2022,” said Dr. Mark Keenum, President of Mississippi State University and Chair of the CFP Board of Managers. “I know this change will also be well received by student-athletes, coaches and fans. We all will be pleased to see this new format come to life on the field this postseason.”
Under this change, there are modifications from the original 12-team plan. That called for the six highest ranked conference champions, plus the next six highest ranked teams.
But, speculation about the 5+7 format began amid realignment. Now, it’s official.
“Under the 12-team playoff format that begins this fall, the four highest-ranked conference champions will be seeded one through four and each will receive a first-round bye, while teams seeded five through 12 will play each other in the first round on the home field of the higher-ranked team,” the release read.
“(The team ranked #5 will host #12; team #6 will meet team #11; team #7 will play team #10; and team #8 will meet #9.) The quarterfinals and semifinals will be played in the New Year’s Six bowl games, the national championship game will continue to be at a neutral site. No conference will qualify automatically and there will be no limit on the number of participants from a conference.”
The meetings come after The Athletic reported last week the College Football Playoff and ESPN had agreed to a six-year deal through 2031 worth roughly $1.3 billion annually. That deal has not been signed, however, and CFP leaders still need to vote on the contract.
Since the news broke, Puck sports business reporter John Ourand reported ESPN executives could pull the offer if the CFP does not move quickly and “doesn’t get its act together.”
“Yahoo Sports! also obtained a memo from Mid-American Conference commissioner Jon Steinbrecher, who shared with his member institutions that reports on a new CFP deal were ‘incorrect,'” On3’s Pete Nakos wrote. “A source familiar with the situation told On3 that the email was meant to keep the schools abreast with the situation.”
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