Well, it's official.
An agreement has been reached on a new contract for the College Football Playoff. The new deal begins in 2026, with a 14-team playoff still a possibility.
www.espn.com
Highlights....
The memorandum of understanding guarantees that the field will have at least 12 teams in 2026 and beyond, but sources indicate there is a strong preference for a
14-team field that includes the five highest-ranked conference champions and the next nine highest-ranked teams. Sources caution the exact format is not done yet, and the Big Ten and SEC will have the bulk of control over that, but others will be protected by parameters that have been put in place that can't be altered.
The commissioners and Notre Dame agreed that the conference champions from the ACC, Big Ten, SEC, Big 12 and the highest-ranked Group of 5 champion would earn a playoff berth, and Notre Dame will have protections that will survive regardless of the ultimate format. With those iron-clad guarantees,
the other commissioners and Notre Dame leadership surrendered the bulk of the control over the ultimate format to the SEC and Big Ten as "part of the give-and-take," according to a source.
The financial distribution for the expected 14-team playoff will look radically different that its playoff predecessor. On an annual basis, for example,
the Big Ten and SEC will be making more than $21 million per school, a number that's up from the nearly $5.5 million the Power Five leagues are currently being paid.
I
n the ACC, the schools will get more than $13 million annually and the Big 12 will get more than $12 million per school. Notre Dame is expected to get more than $12 million as well, and sources tell ESPN there will be a financial incentive for any independent team that reaches the CFP. (There will no longer be a participation bonus for any of the other leagues - a detail that was frustrating to some leaders in the Group of 5.)
The Group of Five schools' annual payment will increase to just under $1.8 million from the current $1.5 million. According to multiple sources, American Athletic Conference commissioner Mike Aresco was the most outspoken critic of the plan but wasn't able to garner enough support from other commissioners to fight it.
The vast disparity in revenue from top to bottom has already elicited discontent and pushback from schools outside of the Big Ten and SEC. To help alleviate some of those concerns, sources said a
"look-in" clause for 2028 has been added to give the commissioners and Notre Dame leadership a chance to reevaluate the contractual agreements based on how every league has performed to that point. There's also a clause that permits that
timeline to be accelerated if there is "material realignment" again.