The College football playoff has always been a point of debate, but the introduction of the 12-team format in 2024 has taken the conversation to a new level. With more teams, more games, and higher stakes, this shift has completely reshaped the way we watch and experience college football.
Since 2014, the sport has had a four-team playoff between the top teams voted in by a committee. Only four teams would make the cut each year, leading to controversy about the chosen teams. The committee is made up of 12 former coaches, players, and athletic directors.
The “committee” recently received backlash in 2024 when they left out a 13-0 Florida State team. FSU had been undefeated through the whole season after beating top teams like LSU, Clemon, and Florida, along with an ACC championship. The argument for keeping them out of the playoff was that their star quarterback, Jordan Travis, had gotten injured mid-season, and the team didn’t look the same after. The fourth playoff spot was instead given to 12-1 Texas. Texas had beaten top teams as well, but ultimately lost in the BIG12 championship game to a fellow top-ten team, Oklahoma State. The committee justified their decision as being due to the strength of the roster at the time of the playoff. Lots of fans of the sport disagreed with the committee’s poor decision.
Back in 2021, the College Football Playoff Management Committee passed a vote to expand the playoff. Originally set to be implemented in 2026, they were given time to determine the logistics and, most importantly, media deals and contracts. Only a year after the decision to switch the format, they announced it would be instituted one season earlier than originally planned.
The 12 teams are now given an opportunity to be part of the CFP every year. Five teams get automatic bids for winning their conference title game. All four of the Power Four conferences were given a spot, and a single group of five programs was given the fifth spot. The top four of those teams are then given a first-round bye week. After the first week, it goes down to a total of eight teams and then proceeds as a typical single-game elimination tournament format.
Not many issues arose initially since the plan was very well thought out and benefited everybody. Players got more opportunities to compete on a higher stage with the potential for professional scouts watching. At the end of the season when there are fewer and fewer games each week, typically just the best of the best play against each other. All players, no matter their regular-season performance, get the chance to compete on the biggest stage. Players’ draft stock has the chance to skyrocket, but also plummet.
In 2021, the NCAA voted to allow Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) into college sports. In a sport like football, where there is so much revenue and money from boosters, it is now being given to the best players on the best programs. This means players can transfer schools and be guaranteed millions of dollars. This has made the NFL path less common recently since players are paid huge amounts of money now during their college careers. Rather than just professional scouts watching the CFP games, college coaches and recruiters are also scouting in preparation for the transfer portal opening up shortly after the championship game.
This shift gives more teams a shot at making a run at a championship. With only four teams every year, it was short, and teams were typically snubbed. The 12-team playoff allows smaller schools in the group of five, such as the AAC, Conference USA, MAC, Sun Belt, and the Mountain West, to send their best team into the playoff.
The first year of the new playoff format completely exceeded expectations. Both viewership and revenue went up. That was the ultimate goal for the playoff and so it was a complete success. Coming off a year where the committee got a lot of backlash, they responded this year with a very well-seeded playoff that made most teams and fans happy.
Economically, the NCAA made a broadcasting deal with ESPN worth $1.3 billion for six years. This deal is the main revenue, and lots of it goes to teams participating as well as these conferences. All 12 teams are given at least 4 million dollars plus additional financial incentives for winning games. Power 4 conferences are also given amounts of the ESPN broadcast deal to put towards increased revenue distribution among teams. This opens up opportunities for more NIL deals for players and prospective players.
In 2023, only three total CFP games were played. That number went up to 11 in 2024. Naturally, since the amount of content went up, viewer fatigue became an issue. The two semifinal games were down by four million views this year. However, this year’s championship game drew 22.1 million broadcast views, which is way more than last year’s mere 16.6 million views. On average, the 11 games received roughly 16.9 million views, higher than expected. In comparison, the three games from the previous year got about 21.1 million views. Though there was a lower average number of viewers, the total amount of games went up, meaning more money for the NCAA.
One of the issues that the NCAA faced was that it didn’t prepare for games that conflicted with other professional sports. Typically, during the regular season, college football plays on Saturdays, and the NFL plays on Sundays, but the playoff changed that. With the addition of eight more games to the CFP, they went at the same time as some NFL games, leading to fewer views for both leagues. This didn’t completely change viewership, but it certainly affected the numbers a bit.
Ultimately, the 12-team CFP expansion brought opportunities for increased revenue, exposure, and inclusivity. However, it also presented challenges related to scheduling, player welfare, and maintaining the traditional significance of regular-season games. In the first season, the expansion was seen as a success and conferences are already to expand it yet again. It has helped to even the playing field, bring in way more revenue, and help to distribute revenue across leagues more fairly.
