TNT Sports will begin broadcasting College Football Playoff games next season through a sublicense with ESPN.
The five-year deal announced Wednesday gives TNT two first-round games in the first two years. From 2026, it expands to two first rounds and two quarterfinals.
ESPN’s $7.8 billion deal with the CFP, announced in March, allowed it to sublicense games to other networks. Financial terms of the sublicense were not announced.
“Our strategy has always been to try to complete our portfolio and continue to add the right set of rights whenever possible,” TNT Sports President and CEO Luis Silberwasser told the Associated Press. “When we look at the landscape and what can really attract massive levels of audience that are in popular culture and should be watched, the College Football Playoff is at the top of the list.”
TNT Sports was one of the companies that bid on the CFP rights package before being picked up by ESPN.
Rosalyn Durant, ESPN’s executive vice president of programming and acquisitions, said TNT approached them after the renewal deal was announced and things progressed from there.
As for which quarterfinal games TNT will be able to play when the deal expands by two years, Durant said that remains to be determined.
Although TNT does not broadcast regular season college football and basketball games, it will broadcast the two biggest tournaments. TNT has been a partner with CBS in broadcasting the NCAA Tournament since 2011 and has a contract until 2032.
This will be the first 12-team playoff season. ESPN has carried the College Football Playoff since its inception in the 2014 season. It replaced the Bowl Championship Series.
The top four conference champions will receive first-round byes. Four first-round games will take place December 20-21, followed by the quarterfinals (Fiesta Bowl, Peach Bowl, Rose Bowl and Sugar Bowl) December 31-January. 1. The semifinals are the Orange Bowl on Jan. 9 and the Cotton Bowl on Jan. 10, before the championship game takes place on Jan. 20 in Atlanta.
CFP start times are expected to be announced on June 6 when ESPN releases its bowl schedule.
It is also another example of a partnership between ESPN and TNT. The two work together as they have rights to the NBA and NHL.
The CFP games on TNT will also be broadcast on Max, but that also means the entire playoff will be on Venu Sports – the streaming platform planned by ESPN, Fox and Warner Bros.
In addition to adding the NHL three years ago and NASCAR next year, the future of TNT carrying the NBA remains up in the air as discussions continue with the league over a new rights deal.
Silberwasser said, however, that the CFP was something they pursued regardless of how the NBA discussions went.
“We remain optimistic about this and are working with them on different scenarios,” Silberwasser said of the NBA negotiations. “We continue to have productive conversations with them and hope to reach an agreement that is good for both of us.”
ESPN’s rights to the College Football Playoff run through the 2031 season. The title game moves to ABC in 2026.
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