ESPN, CFP Reach Handshake Agreement on 24-Team Playoff

The College Football Playoff has reached a "handshake agreement" with ESPN to broadcast a 24-team playoff beginning with the 2027 season, according to sources who spoke to ESPN. The outlet reported Friday that significant paperwork remains and that the arrangement is still subject to board approval across all parties involved, but called it a major step toward doubling the size of the postseason field starting next year.

The CFP and ESPN have spent months negotiating a new deal to keep the network as the event's broadcast partner. ESPN describes the talks as a "seismic move" that would also eliminate the Power 4 conference championship games and push the start of the college football season a week earlier.

What exactly did ESPN and the CFP agree to?

According to ESPN's reporting, the handshake agreement covers broadcast rights for an expanded 24-team playoff beginning in 2027. The deal is informal in the sense that it has not been finalized on paper, and sources told ESPN that formal board sign-off from the conferences and the CFP itself is still required before anything is official. Even so, ESPN's Pete Thamel and Heather Dinich characterized the agreement as a substantial step toward doubling the current postseason path to the national championship.

How would the 24-team field be filled?

Discussions reviewed by ESPN point to a field built around 19 at-large bids, the four Power 4 conference champions as determined by each league, and the highest-ranked Group of 6 team. That structure would roughly double the current 12-team format the CFP adopted for its most recent playoffs, giving more at-large access to teams outside the automatic-qualifier conferences while still guaranteeing a spot for the top Group of 6 program.

What happens to conference championship games?

The expansion talks are expected to eliminate the Power 4 conference championship games, ESPN reported, a change that would reshape the sport's December schedule and remove a long-standing, lucrative event for those leagues. The same discussions include moving the start of the regular season up by a week, which would create room in the calendar for the larger 24-team bracket without pushing the national championship later into January.

How much is ESPN paying for the expanded playoff?

Sources told ESPN's Pete Thamel that the network would pay an average of $345 million annually over the next five years specifically for the expanded playoff rights. That figure is on top of the roughly $1.3 billion ESPN already pays on average each year during that same window under its existing CFP contract, according to ESPN's reporting. Neither figure has been confirmed through a signed agreement, and both remain subject to the board approvals still pending.

What's the timeline for finalizing the deal?

• Oct. 16, 2026: Sources tell ESPN a handshake agreement is in place for ESPN to broadcast a 24-team CFP.
• Pending: Formal paperwork and board approval from the CFP and its member conferences.
• 2027 season: Target launch date for the expanded 24-team playoff format, contingent on final sign-off.

ESPN has not reported a specific date for when board approval might be finalized, only that work remains before the agreement becomes binding.

What do terms like "at-large bid" and "Group of 6" mean?

An at-large bid is a playoff spot awarded based on a team's overall ranking rather than through winning a conference championship. The Power 4 refers to the four major conferences that currently anchor the sport's top tier, while the Group of 6 describes the remaining conferences competing for a single guaranteed playoff slot under the proposed format. A handshake agreement is an informal understanding between negotiating parties that has not yet been reduced to a signed, binding contract — in this case, one still awaiting board approval from the CFP and its member conferences.

Fans trying to track how the field would shake out under the new format can also test their own bracket predictions through pick-style apps such as Smorgi Challenge, which runs prediction contests tied to major sports postseasons.

For continuing coverage of the 2026 postseason sports calendar, see HTT News' report on the Knicks' single-game ticket release following the end of their title drought.