ESPN Reaches 12-Year $5.64B Agreement For New College Football Playoff

[Dan]

Begins in 2014 season

The agreement will begin after the 2014 regular season (including January 2015) and continue through after the 2025 regular season (January 2026).

Specifically, the arrangement would provide ESPN with rights to:

* Championship Games: Coverage of each year’s championship game pitting the semifinal winners against each other on the Monday at least seven days after the semifinals at sites to be determined by the commissioners

* Semifinals: Coverage of two semifinals each year matching four seeded teams identified by a selection committee to be named by the commissioners. The semifinals will be rotated among six bowl games consisting of three “contract bowls” and three “host bowls” to be determined by the commissioners.

* Additional bowls in the playoff format: Coverage of all remaining games from the sites of the three “host bowls” during the years those bowls are not semifinal sites. Note: ESPN had previously secured the rights to the Rose, Sugar and Orange Bowl games for the same 12-year period (through January 2026).

* Related programming: Exclusive rights to branded content throughout each season, including the official team-selection announcement.

http://espnmediazone.com/us/press-re...tball-playoff/

[Dan]

$5.6 Billion

ESPN Strikes Deal for College Football Playoff

A person familiar with the negotiations said it is worth about $470 million annually or $5.64 billion for the duration of the contract.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...970790516.html

[Sure Shot]

Why make trillions when you can make....billions?

[USNIlliniFan]

wow... I'm sure they will come up with even more creative ways to make even more money from it...

[Dan]

According to a source, there is some overlap between ESPN's Rose/Sugar/Orange deals and playoff deal. Annual total is around $610-$615M.

The current BCS deal is worth $180M/yr. By adding 2 semifinals/1 bowl it upped the value by 340 percent.

http://twitter.com/slmandel

[illynifan34]

Guess you pay a premium for having the rights to just about all of the important games:

The current BCS deal is worth $180M/yr. By adding 2 semifinals/1 bowl it upped the value by 340 percent.