After ACC and others throw support behind 24-team CFP, the ball is now in the SEC's court
The ACC and others back a 24-team CFP, awaiting SEC's decision.
ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips revealed that ESPN prefers the College Football Playoff to be capped at 16 teams, with a preference for 12 or 14. The ACC, however, advocates for a 24-team playoff format.
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ESPN does not want the College Football Playoff to go beyond 16 teams, according to ACC commissioner Jim Phillips, who confirmed Wednesday that the Worldwide Leader has been making its preferred playoff size known directly to conference commissioners.
âESPN has been pretty clear with all of us that theyâd like it to stay at 12, maybe 14, but no higher than 16,â Phillips said, per Andy Staples.
Meanwhile, the ACC â the same ACC whose games air exclusively on ESPN â supports a 24-team format.
No final decisions on expansion are expected soon, but that hasnât stopped the stakeholders from making their preferences known. Phillipsâ comments put a public face on what Yahoo Sports reported last month, that ESPN executives had privately dismissed the 24-team format. ESPN holds exclusive broadcast rights to the College Football Playoff up to a 14-team format, a portion of which it has sublicensed to TNT. Beyond 14 teams, additional playoff games go to the open market, which is exactly why the network would very much prefer to keep the entire postseason for itself.
That context makes Foxâs enthusiasm for expansion easy to understand. Fox Sports CEO Eric Shanks publicly endorsed the 24-team format at a Sports Business Journal conference last month, consistent with the Big Tenâs longstanding push for teams. Fox owns a controlling stake in the Big Ten Network and possesses the conferenceâs lead broadcast package, yet its college football season ends on Thanksgiving weekend. A 24-team bracket gives Fox access to December and January playoff inventory it currently has no path to.
ESPN prefers the College Football Playoff to remain at 12 teams, with a maximum of 16 teams.
The ACC supports a 24-team format for the College Football Playoff.
ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips confirmed ESPN's preference regarding the College Football Playoff size.
ESPN aims to limit the College Football Playoff to maintain the current structure and possibly enhance viewership and broadcast rights.
The ACC and others back a 24-team CFP, awaiting SEC's decision.
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In addiiton to the Big Ten and ACC, the Big 12 also supports a 24-team CFP field, but one Power Four commissioner remains the lone holdout. The SECâs Greg Sankey has consistently backed a 16-team format that preserves conference championships, a game the SEC values at roughly $80 million annually and has no interest in sacrificing. Under the CFPâs governance structure, per the memorandum of understanding each FBS conference and Notre Dame signed in 2024, both the Big Ten and SEC must agree before any format change takes effect. But behind the scenes, Fox and ESPN â each aligned with their own conference partners â will keep throwing their weight around.
The 24-team push has not been short on critics, particularly on ESPNâs own airwaves. Kevin Clark called it a âdisgraceâ on The Paul Finebaum Show last week, saying the people pushing expansion donât actually like college football, while Josh Pate went further, calling it one of the most unpopular proposals in the sportâs history among the people who actually watch it.
Even with opposition from ESPN and its contributing personalities, college sports have a way of eventually getting what they want. A 24-team playoff would more than double the current format, with each additional game bringing new rights fees, advertising revenue, and inventory for whoever ends up with the broadcast package. If there is more money to be made from 24 teams â and there almost certainly is â itâs a safe bet the sport gets there eventually, even if ESPN doesnât want it to.
The post ACCâs Jim Phillips says ESPN wants CFP capped at 16 teams appeared first on Awful Announcing.