Report: MAC commissioner disputes reports of College Football Playoff-ESPN agreement on new TV deal

On Feb. 13, reports surfaced claiming ESPN and the College Football Playoff had reached an agreement on a 6-year, $7.8 billion rights extension. However, per a report from Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger on Sunday, it’s hardly a done deal.

Through an open records request, Dellenger obtained an email MAC commissioner Jon Steinbrecher sent to his fellow league administrators, verifying the CFP has not struck a deal with ESPN.

“Several news outlets are reporting that a new six-year television deal has been concluded for the College Football Playoff,” Steinbrecher wrote in an email dated Feb. 13. “Be advised, these reports are incorrect. Neither the Management Committee (commissioners) nor the Board of Managers (presidents) have reviewed a draft agreement nor has any vote been taken.”

Steinbrecher is the longest-serving member of the 11-person management committee and often chairs the committee’s meetings. Dellenger also wrote an agreement cannot be made between the two parties due to “a litany of unresolved matters related to the long-term structure of the playoff.”

The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand first reported the two parties made a deal. However, he did state the contract was not set in stone.

“The full contract’s completion is still contingent on CFP leaders finalizing details of the expanded format in the wake of the implosion of the Pac-12,” Marchand wrote. “The CFP’s management committee and board of managers have meetings scheduled for next week and continue to work through the complicated process of settling their outstanding issues. 

“The ESPN deal will not be ratified until the commissioners and presidents vote on the structure and financials of the expanded CFP. ESPN senior vice president of communication Josh Krulewitz and College Football Playoff executive director Bill Hancock both declined comment.”

The CFP’s management committee isn’t the only party who could cause issues in the agreement. Per Puck News’ John Ourand, ESPN could pull its offer if the CFP keeps the company waiting.

“This process has only gotten more complicated as the Pac-12 haws essentially become the Pac-2,” Ourand said in the newsletter, “with only poor Washington State and Oregon State left behind, and the Big Ten and SEC continually levitating above the NCAA to become their own veritable semiprofessional leagues.

“The playoff committee needs to figure out how to placate the conferences, ensure that the larger format is more inclusive, and allow everyone (the conferences, the schools, and their broadcast partner, chief among them) to make enough money so that they play nice — at least for now.” 

ESPN is apparently looking to prioritize a number of other sports properties to broadcast, including the NBA and UFC, meaning the CFP can’t afford to sit idly, Ourand added.