ESPN and TNT Sports Announce Five-Year Agreement to Sublicense College Football Playoff Games

While the College Football Playoffs format changes from this upcoming season, details on how it will work and what it will look like continue to be released.

One of them is TV rights and programming.

On Wednesday, ESPN and the College Football Playoff announced that the network has signed a five-year deal with TNT Sports – a subdivision of Warner Bros. Discovery – to sublicense select CFP games from ESPN, starting with two first-round games next season. The games will be broadcast on TNT.

“We are very pleased to reach this agreement with ESPN, providing TNT Sports the opportunity to air these College Football Playoff games on our platforms for years to come,” said TNT Sports President and CEO Luis Silberwasser. said in a statement. “TNT Sports aims to delight fans and generate maximum reach and engagement for these landmark games.”

The college football broadcast will be a first for TNT Sports — which has added NHL and MLB rights in recent years to its resume to keep up with the NBA and NCAA Tournament. As part of the agreement with ESPN, TNT Sports will also host two quarterfinal games in addition to the two first round games starting in 2026. According to the press release, ESPN will broadcast all other CFP games on its networks, including the national championship game.

“ESPN is pleased to sublicense to TNT Sports a select number of games from the first round of the College Football Playoff, an event that we have helped transform – along with the CFP – into one of the most prominent championships,” said Executive Vice President of ESPN programming and programming. Rosalyn Durant acquisitions said in a statement. “We are confident in the reach and promotion this new agreement will provide as we enter the new and expanded playoff era.”

The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed in the statement, but according to the Associated Press, the CFP sublicense to TNT Sports is possible due to ESPN’s new $7.8 billion deal signed in March to retain the CFP rights.

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College Football Playoff Format

The news of TNT Sports joining the CFP broadcasting rights comes after the College Football Playoff Board of Managers unanimously approved the adoption of the College Football Playoffs format, going from five to 12 teams, that is, the 5+7 model format, in February.

“It is exciting to add TNT Sports, another highly respected broadcaster, to the College Football Playoff family,” said College Football Playoff Executive Director Bill Hancock. said in a statement. “Sports fans across the country are intimately familiar with their work across a wide range of sports properties over the past two decades, and we look forward to seeing what new and innovative ideas they bring to the promotion and delivery of these games.”

In the 5+7 model format, the four highest-seeded conference champions are eliminated in the first round and are seeded one through four, with the remaining eight teams being seeded five through 12. These eight teams then play each other in the first round. round on the field of the highest-ranked team.

Here’s a look at the 2024-25 College Football Playoff schedule with the 12-team model:

First round (on campus)

• Friday, December 20, 2024: A game

• Saturday, December 21, 2024: three games

Quarterfinals

• Tuesday, December 31, 2024: Vrbo Fiesta Bowl

• Wednesday, January 1, 2025: Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, Rose Bowl Game and Allstate Sugar Bowl

Semifinals

• Thursday, January 9, 2025: Capital One Orange Bowl

• Friday, January 10, 2025: Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic

national Championship

This article originally appeared in the Detroit Free Press: College Football Playoffs: TNT Sports to Sublicense ESPN Games