ESPN, College Football Playoff reach six-year rights extension – report (NYSE:DIS)

ESPN (NYSE:DIS) and the College Football Playoff have come to terms on a six-year extension to their rights deal for the postseason championship tournament, The Athletic reported.

The total value of the proposed deal is $7.8B, or about $1.3B per year, according to the report, which cites sources briefed on the deal. And it covers ESPN’s rights to serve the home of the newly expanded tournament through the 2031-2032 football season. Under the deal, though, ESPN could sublicense games to another network or digital outlet.

If ratified, the extension puts a bit of a button on ESPN’s dominance of college sports championships: The network has rights to 40 championships, with the notable exception of men’s basketball, currently led by CBS (PARA) (PARAA) and Turner networks (WBD).

ESPN has two years left on the current deal, valued about $608M per year on average.

Until this year, the CFP has been a four-team playoff to decide the sport’s national champion, and Michigan won the most recent title.

In fall 2024, however, it’s expanding to a 12-team playoff using traditional bowl games as bracket stops on the way to a title game.

The deal’s completion still has a few wrinkles to iron out, notably coming after all but two teams departed the Pac-12 Conference. It won’t be ratified until conference commissioners and university presidents vote on the structure and financials of the newly expanded playoff, the report noted.