CFP leadership tells ESPN it is “close” to a 24-team playoff deal, ESPN gets five business days to respond

College Football Playoff leadership has sent ESPN a formal proposal to move to a 24-team playoff, a step that one report says puts the parties “close” despite other public claims about the timing and state of talks. The proposal was transmitted by the CFP leadership group on Friday for ESPN review, with the network allotted a brief period to respond before the CFP can seek other paths for its media rights discussions.

In the reported breakdown of who is involved, the CFP’s leadership includes the 10 FBS conference commissioners plus Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua. That matters because, in the structure of the modern CFP, the commissioners represent the conferences with the greatest influence on revenue, scheduling, and the competitive balance issues that typically come with any playoff expansion.

According to the report, ESPN now has five business days to respond to the proposal. If ESPN does not reach a deal within that window, the College Football Playoff leadership can bring its media rights to the broader market, rather than waiting indefinitely for one counterparty.

The report also characterizes the proposal as moving the talks beyond the rumor-and-reaction stage. In other words, while expansion plans have been discussed for several years, this is being framed as a concrete offer coming from the CFP side rather than a late-stage conversation prompted by outside speculation.

For college football, the significance of a 24-team format would extend well beyond the number of games. It would reshape the path to the postseason for both conference champions and at-large teams, altering the calculus for selection, scheduling, and how late-season results influence playoff positioning.

At the team level, expansion typically changes roster planning and recruiting priorities because more programs gain meaningful postseason relevance later in the year. Even for programs that do not finish at the top of their league, the existence of additional postseason slots can affect how coaching staffs manage risk, depth, and player development over a longer stretch.

What to watch next is straightforward: ESPN’s response during the five-business-day review period. If the parties agree, the framework for a 24-team playoff would likely move from discussion to implementation planning. If not, the CFP’s next step would be to pursue the rights through other channels, which could introduce a new set of deadlines for leagues, broadcasters, and stakeholders.