The Rose Bowl has notified the College Football Playoffs that it has agreed to amend its contract to pave the way for CFP expansion by 2024, a source with knowledge of contract negotiations confirmed. athletic on wednesday. ESPN was the first to report the news. Here’s what you should know:
- This decision will allow the CFP to expand to 12 teams in time for the 2024 season.
- In September, the presidents and prime ministers who make up the CFP board approved a 12-team model that was first proposed in June 2021 but has been postponed due to disagreements among the commissioners.
- The Board then asked these commissioners to resume discussions on the possibility of implementing a 12-team model before 2026, when the first CFP contract expires.
Background
The Rose Bowl sought assurances from CFP executives that the games would continue in a dedicated broadcast window at 5:00 pm ET on New Year’s Day. Even in a year when the Rose Bowl wasn’t his CFP quarterfinal game, he needed that precious window of time. This throws a wrench into the calendar and how the new postseason works. That guarantee also comes with special treatment that other bowls don’t get.
All hopes of an early expansion would have been lost if the Rose Bowl refused to terminate their current contract, which runs through the 2025-26 season.
“The Rose Bowl Games remain open to the possibility of early expansion of the existing playoffs. Having requested specific contract guarantees in our initial discussions with the College Football Playoffs, we remain open to these discussions.” The game’s organizers said in a statement to the Associated Press in early November, “We don’t intend to be the only obstacle preventing expansion from happening before the end of the current cycle.”
“As the only New Years Six Bowl with an independent contract, we are working to navigate our existing contracts,” said Rose Bowl Administrative Committee Chair Laura Farber. told ESPN“While we are willing to work in certain areas, we insist that our exclusive broadcast window on January 1st at 2pm PT is important for the Rose Bowl game.”
What does this (probably) look like
Now you know the basic framework of the 12-team CFP. This is because it was approved this fall. His six highest ranked FBS Champions are guaranteed access and the rest of his six spots are given to the best overall team. The top four seeds will receive first round byes, while seeds 5-8 will host the first round on-campus games. The remaining rounds will be played at the bowl site.
The dates for the 2024 and 2025 first round games aren’t fully set yet — we won’t be able to do that until ESPN signs off and has its TV window figured out — but for now, it’s possible they will take place. It’s expected to take place the third weekend in December, two weeks after the conference championship games, on Friday and Saturday.This means some games go head to head NFL Regular season games were played that Saturday.
The calendar for new CFP contracts starting in 2026 is subject to change. Getting the entire season up to what is now called Week 0 would alleviate some of the stress on the postseason backend of his scheduling. Issues related to 2026 and beyond will be resolved in the future. — Auerbach
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