Warner Bros. Discovery has recently entered into a five-year sublicensing agreement with Disney’s ESPN to enhance its sports offerings. This agreement grants Warner Bros. Discovery the exclusive rights to broadcast the first-round and quarterfinal College Football Playoff games.
Warner Bros. Discovery’s television network, TNT, has announced that it will broadcast two first-round games this year and next year. Additionally, starting in 2026, TNT will include two more quarterfinals games. According to individuals familiar with the matter, Disney has the option to sublicense a semifinals game to Warner Bros. Discovery, commencing in the third year of the agreement, should it so desire.
According to undisclosed sources, Disney has confirmed that it will maintain exclusive rights to the championship game for the duration of the contract, which extends until 2031. Disney is remunerating approximately $1.3 billion annually for the exclusive rights to broadcast the complete College Football Playoffs.
The College Football Playoff slate, consisting of 12 teams, will make its debut in December. This new format replaces the four-team tournament that commenced in 2014. According to the revised format, the top four teams are granted byes, whereas teams ranked No. 5 through No. 12 compete in first-round matches at the home stadium of the team with the higher ranking.
According to sources familiar with the matter, ESPN will be responsible for producing the games and primarily utilising ESPN talent for the broadcasts, which will bear the TNT brand. As per the terms of the sublicensing agreement, Warner Bros. Discovery is providing ESPN with an annual payment of “hundreds of millions” for the games spanning five years. However, the amount is reduced in years one and two, as ESPN only has two games per year, according to sources.
In a statement, Bill Hancock, the executive director of the College Football Playoff, expressed his enthusiasm regarding the inclusion of TNT Sports, a renowned broadcaster, within the College Football Playoff family. Sports enthusiasts nationwide possess a deep understanding of their extensive experience in managing diverse sports properties for the past twenty years. We eagerly anticipate witnessing the introduction of fresh and inventive concepts in their efforts to enhance the promotion and execution of these games.
The inaugural round of the CFP for this year is scheduled to occur on December 20th and 21st. We intend to incorporate the games into our Max sports tier, as announced by Warner Bros. Discovery. The company is strategically increasing its presence in the live sports industry, amidst ongoing negotiations with the National Basketball Association for a comprehensive package of live games.
TNT has maintained a longstanding partnership with the NBA for almost four decades. However, there is a potential risk of losing games to Comcast-owned NBCUniversal and Amazon if Warner Bros. Discovery chooses to revoke its matching rights. Alternatively, if the league chooses to disregard these rights, TNT may face the possibility of losing them. The parent company of NBC News is NBC Universal.
College football holds a prominent position as one of the most widely viewed television programmes. The semi-finals victory of Michigan over Alabama last year garnered an average viewership of 27.2 million, making it the most watched non-NFL sporting event since 2018.
In the event that Warner Bros. Discovery does not secure their position in the NBA, they will retain both the CFP and the NBA until mid-2025. Additionally, they will have access to several weeks of games for the NCAA men’s basketball March Madness tournament, men’s and women’s soccer, NASCAR, Major League Baseball, and the National Hockey League. This information will be beneficial for the company’s forthcoming carriage renewal agreements for TNT and its other cable networks.
ESPN has entered into a sublicensing agreement with Warner Bros. Discovery, which includes the exclusive rights to broadcast all CFP games on Venu Sports. Venu Sports is a forthcoming sports streaming service being developed by Disney, Fox, and Warner Bros. Discovery, with an anticipated launch date in the autumn.
