College Football Playoff: Payouts revealed for each round, CFP national championship
Friday night marks the start of a new era for the College Football Playoff. A first-round game will take place at a campus site as the 12-team bracket begins play – and the new payouts have been revealed under the new format.
The 2024 season marked the first of the 5-plus-7 bracket model. The five highest-ranked conference champions made the field, with the top four receiving first-round byes, and the next seven highest-ranked teams rounded things out. First-round matchups will be at campus sites before the quarterfinals and semifinals take place at New Year’s Six bowl games.
Teams will receive $3 million for each round to cover expenses under the new distribution system. For making the College Football Playoff, teams get $4 million, and the eight teams that make the quarterfinals get an additional $4 million.
Semifinal teams receive $6 million. Then, the final two teams standing get another $6 million for making the national championship game.
Notre Dame and Indiana will get things underway Friday night as the first-ever College Football Playoff game on a campus. Three games await Saturday – SMU at Penn State, Clemson at Texas and Tennessee at Ohio State – to wrap up the first round.
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College Football Playoff takes on new look in multiple ways
The winners of the first-round games will advance in the bracket to New Year’s Six bowl sites. Oregon came in as the No. 1 seed and awaits in the Rose Bowl, while No. 2 seed Georgia is heading to the Sugar Bowl. No. 3 seed Boise State will take on either SMU or Penn State in the Fiesta Bowl, and No. 4 seed Arizona State is heading to the Peach Bowl.
The Orange Bowl and Cotton Bowl will be the semifinal games, which set the table for the national championship. This year’s national title game will be Jan. 20 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
This year’s College Football Playoff also sees a change from a TV perspective. ESPN has held the exclusive rights since the CFP’s inception in 2014, but came to an agreement to sublicense two first-round games. SMU at Penn State and Clemson at Texas will air on TNT and Max, marking the first time CFP games will air on a network other than ESPN or ABC.