ESPN and the College Football Playoff have reportedly agreed to a six-year extension which will carry through the 2031 regular season.
USA TODAY Sports has more:
“According to the report, the extension starting for the 2026 season is for six years and $7.8 billion and makes ESPN the continued broadcast partner for the 12-team playoff. The expanded format will begin during the 2024 season.
“That makes the new agreement worth substantially more money for half the duration of the original deal, illustrating the outstanding success of the playoff and the increasing interest in the new format.”
That the product of college football is lucrative is not being questioned here. The question is if it’s good for a sport if one network, one entity, continues to have full control of the playoff, especially now that the playoff is expanding from four teams to 12 and three games to 11.
There’s a lot to discuss here, so let’s begin:
FLORIDA STATE DEBACLE
(The Florida Times-Union, Bob Self)
We just finished a 2023 playoff selection process in which Florida State, an unbeaten Power Five conference champion, was not selected simply because its starting quarterback, Jordan Travis, got hurt. Nevermind that the team earned a playof spot by going 13-0. ESPN wants its television ratings, and a depleted FSU team in the playoff would not have been good for ratings. Actual football merit — the teams which win the most games (and don’t lose any games) get in — was shoved to the side. Commercial viability and perceived financial benefit were elevated. That’s not a fair market. That’s not pure competition. It’s anti-competitive. It’s not an honest way to run a business. Everyone could see it. Yet, ESPN gets rewarded, not punished, with exclusive control of the playoff? What a disaster.
COVERAGE WILL CONTINUE TO SHAPE ESPN’S…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/espn-six-extension-college-football-181027679.html
Author : Trojans Wire
Publish date : 2024-02-14 18:10:27
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