Somewhere, Nicolas Cage is tipping his cap to the levels of meta ESPN achieved this week.
On Thursday, ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported the College Football Playoff “nearing a deal to expand to 24 teams” next season. Subsequently, Thamel reported that ESPN would pay an average $345 million annually over the next five years in addition to the $1.3 billion average annually ESPN is already on the books for.
Of that new $345 million, ESPN will only essentially be paying $205 million, as they are getting back $140 million annually from the cancelation of the three power conference championship games that ESPN owns the television rights to broadcast.
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) October 16, 2026
Meanwhile, ESPN’s Heather Dinich reported that ESPN had reached “a handshake agreement” to broadcast the expanded 24-team College Football Playoff, beginning with the 2027 season. ESPN already holds sole media rights to the College Football Playoff through the 2031-32 season under its current contract.
As the cherry on top, College GameDay, ESPN’s flagship show, weighed in on it all while live from Provo, Utah, ahead of BYU-Notre Dame on Saturday.
Here’s the full College GameDay conversation on the College Football Playoff and ESPN reaching a “handshake agreement ” to expand to a 24-team field in 2027.
https://t.co/ujbWBMe7gg
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) October 17, 2026
Host Rece Davis asked Thamel how and why the College Football Playoff ballooned from 12 to 24 teams so quickly. Thamel explained the financial nuances involved, noting that “money is ultimately the driver,” but access is secretly more influential than money alone.
Kirk Herbstreit jumped in, saying, “It does give more teams hope, more fan bases hope.” He also expressed fears around an expanded College Football Playoff diluting the stakes in the regular season.
“The CFP folks deciding to make this decision to go from 12 to 24, and then negotiating with ESPN to remain with the exclusive rights, was certainly something that has a drawn a lot of boos from a lot of people that love college football,” Pat McAfee said, as the crowd at BYU booed behind him.
McAfee spoke through the lens of college football purists who don’t understand the need for such drastic change before saying that he, personally, understands “it’s reality, [and] it’s gonna happen.” He laid out “some positives,” though he didn’t shy away from the risk of ruining the “the power of college football,” such as its environments, tradition, pageantry, and fans.
Nick Saban echoed many of the hesitations he voiced on The Pat McAfee Show on Friday.
“The thing that concerns me the most about this is, how many games are too many games for college players to play?” Saban said. “We played 15 games maybe three times, and I thought that was too many. Now, you’re gonna be able to play at least 17 maybe, which may be too many. The other thing is [that] we’ve now lowered the bar to get in the playoffs — 24 teams — and we’re gonna raise the expectations of the fans to get in the game.”
Saban also warned of the illusion that an expanded College Football Playoff increases coaches’ job security. But, ultimately, he said, “I agree with the good and the bad.” Later in the segment, Saban underscored that “we’re gaining something, but we’re also giving something up,” citing the shuttering of bowl games and conference championship games.
“There’s a lot of bad, though, and Coach Saban certainly let it be known yesterday in the production meeting,” McAfee said before throwing it to Desmond Howard.
Howard noted that “we haven’t really heard from the players” and agreed with Saban’s point that college football is en route to mirroring the NFL’s schedule.
“People don’t want to admit that, but that’s exactly where we’re going,” Howard said. “I think they don’t want to admit it because they don’t want to inch toward a union. They don’t want players to unionize, but as we keep going in this direction, that’s what’s going to be on the table next. You’ll see. I think that the players haven’t had their voices heard. The calendar is gonna change significantly.”
Howard said he came to like the 12-team playoff, but 24 is “a lot,” and he seconded the widespread fear on set that the regular season’s significance is in peril.
“I think the sport of college football is healthier than it’s ever been,” McAfee said toward the end of the segment. “Ratings are bigger than they’ve ever been. I think interest is bigger than it’s ever been. Will a 24-team playoff continue to drive that, or go the other way? I mean, I guess that’s all TBD. People are not happy, though.”
“I think you make a great point because, like I said, I’ve been against it,” Davis said. “But once those games get here, once they arrive in December — on campus, two rounds — that’s gonna be fantastic. The actual games will be fun.”
The powers that be in college football may be right to assume viewers will still watch college football, even if the product isn’t nearly as good, but a 24-team College Football Playoff will test fans’ blind loyalty more than any of the dramatic changes to the sport in recent years.
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