ESPN exclusive rights holder of expanded CFP through 2031 season

ESPN has reached agreement with the College Football Playoff to be the exclusive worldwide media rightsholder to the expanded CFP.

The new 24-team CFP will begin next season, and ESPN's deal will run through the 2031-32 season.

"This moment reinforces our position as the preeminent destination for college sports," ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro said in a statement.

"Since its inception, we've worked closely with the CFP to build the Playoff into one of the marquee events in sports," Pitaro said. "Today's announcement reflects the strength of this partnership and our shared commitment to delivering even more excitement for fans in the years ahead in this new Playoff format that the CFP has created."

Under this new format, the college football regular season will run from the week before Labor Day through Thanksgiving weekend. The first national championship game under the new 24-team model will take place on Jan. 24, 2028, as had been previously scheduled.

The 24-team field will include 19 at-large bids, the Power 4 conference champions as determined by each league, plus the highest-ranked Group of 6 team. The top eight teams will receive first-round byes, and the first two rounds of games will be held at the campus of the higher seed.

The change in the regular season calendar brings about the end of conference championship games. Army-Navy game will now be played on what used to be conference championship game weekend, and it will have a standalone window while the playoff-bound teams have a weekend to rest.

On Sept. 9, ESPN and the CFP entered a 30-day negotiation window to determine what the value of a 24-team field would be. The window closed on Oct. 9. ESPN will remain the sole rights holder of the event.

"The expanded CFP adds to our industry-leading portfolio of rights and will be an important property for our company," Pitaro said.