College Football Playoff Expands to 24 Teams for 2027 Season, Power Four Title Games to End
The College Football Playoff (CFP) and ESPN announced on November 9 that the Playoff field will expand from 12 teams to 24 beginning with the 2027 season, with ESPN remaining the exclusive worldwide media rights holder under a new agreement running through the 2031 season. CFP executive director Rich Clark said the management committee, made up of the 10 FBS commissioners and Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua, voted unanimously for the 24-team field and a revenue distribution that remains unchanged.
The expanded format features 23 games. The 24 berths comprise 19 at-large bids, the Power Four conference champions as determined by each league, and the highest-ranked Group of 6 team. The top eight teams receive first-round byes, and the first two rounds will be played on the campus of the higher seed, lifting on-campus Playoff games from four under the current format to 16. According to Reuters and USA Today, the new five-year deal is worth nearly $1.7 billion, about $345 million a year in additional payments on top of the six-year, $7.8 billion contract the two sides signed in March 2024.
The calendar changes with it: the regular season will run from the week before Labor Day through Thanksgiving weekend, the Power Four conference championship games will be eliminated, and the Army-Navy game moves to the former championship weekend in a standalone window while Playoff teams rest. The first 24-team field will be announced on November 28, 2027, and the first national championship game of the new era is set for January 24, 2028, in New Orleans. The 2026 season will be the last under the 12-team format.
Clark acknowledged that many fans oppose expansion and said that sentiment was weighed before the committee decided to move forward, pledging to make the 24-team Playoff spectacular for fans and student-athletes. ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro said the announcement reflects more than a decade of partnership and that the expanded Playoff will be an important property in the company's rights portfolio. (Source: College Football Playoff)
Source: College Football Playoff
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Photo: 图：华盛顿大学队在2024年大学橄榄球季后赛全国冠军赛上入场（资料图，Houston NRG体育场）。美国陆军/DVIDS，公共领域。 / Photo: Washington Huskies take the field at the 2024 College Football Playoff National Championship Game at NRG Stadium in Houston (file photo). U.S. Army/DVIDS, public domain.
