As college football heads into a new era of expanded playoffs this year, several networks are bidding for the rights to the new format, including Fox Sports.
College Football Playoffs will host 12 teams this year instead of the usual four, and multiple networks are on the list to be considered for licensing rights. Fox Sports is considering a “massive bid” for some, if not all, the Playoff games, according to Front Office Sports. The network will back away from a bid for NBA games. College football playoff games will be broken up between networks until 2026 when the entire Playoff package becomes available for auction.
The move from four-team playoffs to 12-teams has become heated as nearly every network and even a few tech companies, including NBC Sports, Warner Bros. Discovery, Amazon, and Apple, place bids for the games. Sports, especially football, drive up viewer numbers and keep fans tethered to cable TV providers. However, streaming platforms have also taken this approach to increase subscriber numbers by offering sports packages, such as Prime Video’s Thursday Night Football or sports events on Hulu + Live TV.
ESPN is considered the leading bid in this war and already has the licensing rights to College Playoffs. However, College Football Playoffs want to cement agreements with multiple media partners for its next deal. ESPN signed a 12-year contract in 2011 and pays $470 million per year for the rights.
But in turn, these games drive up viewership and increase subscribers on streaming services that carry ESPN, such as Fubo, Hulu + Live TV, and DIRECTV STREAM. The upcoming Championship Game between the Michigan Huskies and the Washington Wolverines next week is expected to draw crowds after the Michigan-Alabama New Year’s Day Semifinal netted 32.8 million viewers. According to Nielsen’s ratings, this makes it one of the Top 10 most-watched cable TV telecasts of all time.
An expanded Playoffs means the price for these packages will likely increase quite a bit, considering the number of bidders, and places College Football Playoffs as one of the most competitive sports rights deals after the NBA.
Fox Sports Considers ‘Massive’ Bid For College Football Playoffs
As college football heads into a new era of expanded playoffs this year, several networks are bidding for the rights to the new format, including Fox Sports.
College Football Playoffs will host 12 teams next season instead of the usual four, and multiple networks are on the list to vie for future licensing rights. Fox Sports is considering a “massive bid” for some, if not all, the games, according to Front Office Sports. One indication of this is the fact that Fox is backing away from bidding for NBA games.
Fox Sports will have to bide its time, since the current deal has the playoff games broken up between networks until 2026, when the entire Playoff package becomes available for auction.
The move from four-team playoffs to 12-teams has become heated as nearly every media and even a few tech companies place bids for the game. Interested companies include NBC Sports, Warner Bros. Discovery, Amazon, and Apple. Sports, especially football, drive up viewer numbers and keep fans tethered to cable TV providers. However, streaming platforms have also taken this approach to increase subscriber numbers by offering sports packages, such as Prime Video’s Thursday Night Football or YouTube TV carrying NFL Sunday Ticket.
ESPN is considered the leading bidder in this war and already has the licensing rights to College Playoffs. However, the NCAA wants to cement agreements with multiple media partners for its next deal. ESPN signed a 12-year contract in 2011 and pays $470 million per year for its rights.
But in turn, these games drive up viewership and increase subscribers on streaming services that carry ESPN, such as Fubo, Hulu + Live TV, and DIRECTV STREAM. The upcoming Championship Game between the Michigan Huskies and the Washington Wolverines next week is expected to draw crowds after the Michigan-Alabama New Year’s Day Semifinal netted 32.8 million viewers. According to Nielsen’s ratings, this would make it one of the Top 10 most-watched cable TV telecasts of all time.
An expanded Playoffs means the price for these packages will likely increase quite a bit, considering the number of bidders, and places College Football Playoffs as one of the most competitive sports rights deals alongside the NBA.
Fox Sports wasn’t available to comment.