As college football leaders meet in Dallas, questions surround future of CFP

Between outside legal forces pressuring the NCAA and a captivating transfer portal window, most attention in college football has not been focused on the future of the sport’s postseason.

This week, however, is crucial for the College Football Playoff.

Despite the excitement of the 12-team playoff beginning with the 2024 season, nothing is set past the 2025 season. A voting rights structure, future format of the playoff and revenue distribution all need to be sorted out.

The meetings come after The Athletic reported last week the College Football Playoff and ESPN had agreed to a six-year deal through 2031 worth roughly $1.3 billion annually. That deal has not been signed, however, and CFP leaders still need to vote on the contract.

Since the news broke, Puck sports business reporter John Ourand reported ESPN executives could pull the offer if the CFP does not move quickly and “doesn’t get its act together.”

Yahoo Sports! also obtained a memo from Mid-American Conference commissioner Jon Steinbrecher, who shared with his member institutions that reports on a new CFP deal were “incorrect.” A source familiar with the situation told On3 that the email was meant to keep the schools abreast with the situation.

CFP Board of Managers to vote on future format

The first key meeting of the week for the College Football Playoff will be held virtually on Tuesday, consisting of the CFP Board of Managers. A source told On3 that the 11 university presidents and chancellors are expected to vote on the future CFP model. The current format calls for a 6+6 model – six conference champions and six at-large teams.

The board is expected to move to the 5+7 format, something that has been gaining momentum since this past summer when the Pac-12 Conference was broken up. The new model would give automatic bids to the “Power Four” conference champions and a Group of Five team. The other seven bids would be made up of at-large schools.

But for the format to move to 5+7, the 11-person board needs to vote in unison. The Pac-2 is expected to introduce a proposal for its requested revenue distribution in the next CFP contract. Washington State and Oregon State are set to receive full Power Five revenue distribution for the remainder of the current two-year CFP contract. That pays out between $5 to $6 million per school. Washington State President Kirk Schulz is expected to ask for similar Power 5 revenue in the next CFP contract.

At this point, however, there’s no indication of what the Pac-2 conference’s membership will look like in the future. In an interview with Yahoo! last week, Schulz pushed back that the Pac-2’s proposal is tied to him voting in favor of the 5+7 model.

“We’re not going to tie those two things together,” he said. “That’s not appropriate. There’s been some speculation that the two are tied together. That would be the place where the Pac-12 conference would not be a good colleague for college football by going, ‘We’ve given you a proposal. You better do exactly as we ask or there is going to be some penalty.’ That’s not the right stance to take.”

The Board of Managers is also expected to vote on the recommendation from the commissioners to give a portion of revenue distribution to SMU.

College Football Playoff Management Committee to meet

After Tuesday’s Board of Managers virtual meeting is held, the commissioners and Notre Dame athletic director are set to meet in Dallas. The CFP Management Committee meeting comes after the Big Ten and SEC formed a joint advisory group. The two super conferences in college football have the leverage and power.

Expected on the agenda is a discussion surrounding a new revenue-distribution model and voting structure, a source tells On3. There’s a possibility the future format of the playoff could be discussed. According to The Athletic, Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti is in favor of reviewing a new bracket, including a 16-team field. If a new possible format moves forward, sources have told On3 it will probably favor the SEC and Big Ten.

Also, Wednesday will serve as a temperature check on whether the Big Ten and SEC have any new proposals or ideas about the future of the CFP. The biggest brands in the sport are now under the two conferences’ umbrella after the most recent wave of conference realignment, and there wouldn’t be much surprise if Petitti and SEC commissioner Greg Sankey push for a larger share of revenue.

The value of participation and victories remains to be determined, too. The Power Five conferences currently control upward of 75% of revenue.

Additionally, new Pac-2 commissioner Teresa Gould is expected to attend the meeting, along with outgoing commissioner George Kliavkoff. Wednesday is expected to be his final CFP Management Committee meeting.