Report: College Football Playoff issues ultimatum to Rose Bowl following back-and-forth negotiations

We know the College Football Playoff is going to expand. At some point, the field will grow from four teams to 12, tripling the size of teams competing for the national championship. What we don’t know is when expansion is going to happen and for the most part, the Rose Bowl has been the hold-up.

ESPN’s Heather Dinich revealed the CFP has waited long enough on the Rose Bowl, with an ultimatum being set. She said Wednesday will be the deadline for the bowl committee to respond on whether or not they are in for expansion beginning in the 2024 season.

“Multiple sources from the CFP have told me that they have issued an ultimatum to the Rose Bowl,” Dinich said on SportsCenter on Wednesday. “Basically saying, there’s a self-imposed deadline of tomorrow. If this College Football Playoff is going to expand in time for the 2024 season, they need the Rose Bowl to say they’re in or they’re not.”

Arguably the most iconic part of college football, the Rose Bowl is something all Big Ten and Pac-12 programs cherish. Maybe USC and UCLA cherish it more than others.

New Year’s Day has always been the date for the Rose Bowl, barring an NFL Sunday. The Rose Bowl is hoping to host CFP semifinals on this date at the traditional 5 p.m. ET kickoff time for two out of every three years. Others involved are not fully willing to accept those terms.

“The Rose Bowl has said ‘look, we’ll do what you want us to do for ’23 and ’24 but we’d like you to give us X, Y, and Z in the new contract,'” said Dinich. “And the playoff is saying ‘look, we don’t have to be bound to any promises in a new contract, which will be given in 2026. So, they said ‘we might move on without you.'”

Dinich reported earlier on Tuesday that the CFP could be willing to remove the Rose Bowl from the New Year’s Six rotation in the next contract if terms cannot be agreed upon.

In the current iteration of the College Football Playoff, when the Rose Bowl has been a host for a semifinal matchup, the games have been played on Jan. 1. Twice has the game been played in Pasadena, while the 2020 version was moved the Arlington due to COVID-19.

Now, we could have an exact timeline and structure for the College Football Playoff if the reported ultimatum sticks on Wednesday.