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The 10 FBS conferences and Notre Dame are expected to approve key details Friday that will bring the sport one step closer to the next iteration of the College Football Playoff, multiple sources briefed on the approval process said. The Atlético. The deal is a precursor to the approval of ESPN’s six-year, $7.8 billion extension that will run through the 2031-32 season.
After months of discussions, the leagues finally agreed this week on a new revenue model in which the Big Ten and SEC will receive nearly double the share of CFP revenue as the ACC and Big 12, starting with the start of the next contract in 2026.
However, other key details, particularly whether the field will expand from 12 teams to 14 and whether the “Power 2” will receive more automatic berths than the other leagues, are not expected to be finalized on Friday. Expansion decisions may be made separately from the ESPN deal because the network is not willing to pay more money for additional first-round games, according to executives briefed on the negotiations.
Instead, the parties are expected to sign a framework that includes certain protections for everyone if the field expands beyond 12. There has been push for a 14-team field in recent weeks, but in a television interview Thursday, the SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey suggested there is no The agreement between the group has not yet been expanded.
“People have talked about 12 and 14,” Sankey said on SEC Network. “Let’s maybe put them as bookends to the conversation, let’s put them on the shelf, where bookends belong, for a moment, let’s get this right 12, secure it, and then we’ll move on.”
Multiple sources briefed on the revenue model confirmed that the new breakdown is about 29 percent annually for both the Big Ten and SEC (more than $21 million per school), 17 percent for the ACC (about $13 million each), 15 percent for the Big 12 ($12 million each) and 9 percent for the Group of 5 conferences as a whole (about $1.8 million per school). The rest goes to independents, including more than $12 million for Notre Dame and the Football Championship Subdivision. There is an additional performance bonus available only to independents for reaching the CFP field.
The new agreement is also expected to include a review clause in 2028, allowing the parties to potentially reshape the agreement based on performance or further conference realignment.
While each conference and team will receive more money in 2026 than under the current contract, this new division of revenue represents a dramatic change. Since the CFP’s creation, the power conferences have shared roughly 80 percent of the money equally.
The new agreement also establishes the financial advantage of the Big Ten and the SEC over the rest of the FBS, including the other Power 4 conferences in the ACC and the Big 12. The Big Ten and the SEC already make tens of millions more annually than the other two through their new conference television contracts. This CFP deal adds tens of millions more to the gap, and the Big Ten and SEC secured it using their influence as leagues that host the most CFP participants to date.
Group of 5 conferences have privately expressed some frustration with this deal, seeing only a slight increase in their payouts and the elimination of a performance bonus for ranking. G5 commissioners held a call earlier this week about the situation. But they also understand that they don’t have much influence and that it is better to be in the fold than outside it. They have a place in the field.
Terms of the deal with ESPN have been in place for some time, according to executives, but the conferences delayed its approval due to a lack of clarity over the structure of the event once the current contract expires in two years. The clock was ticking because the ESPN deal includes the rights to the four on-campus first-round games to be played in December and the next one as part of the new 12-team field. The CFP met with numerous potential media partners during recent negotiations, but no other networks submitted a bid for any game.
More discussions are needed for expansion and what it could look like. Multiple 14-team models have been discussed. In one model, the so-called “3-3-2-2-1” format, the Big Ten and SEC would receive three automatic berths, compared to two for the ACC and Big 12 and one for the Group of 5. along with with three points released. However, other options and a simpler “5+9” model (five automatic qualifiers, nine general) also remain a possibility. Among the protections in the framework expected to be signed Friday include a threshold Notre Dame would need to meet to make a 14-team field, depending on how many at-large spots are available.
The idea of the Big Ten and SEC automatically receiving both byes in a 14-team model was met with negative reactions and is not likely to be included in a 14-team field.
College football has yet to experience a 12-team playoff, but the sport is now one step closer to agreeing on an even larger field as revenues continue to consolidate around two conferences.
— The AthleticAndrew Marchand, Scott Dochterman and Seth Emerson contributed reporting.
(Photo: Kirby Lee / USA Today)