TNT Sports will begin airing College Football Playoff games this season through a sublicense with ESPN.
The five-year agreement announced Wednesday gives TNT two first-round games the first two years. Beginning in 2026, it expands to two first-round games and two quarterfinals.
ESPN’s $7.8 billion deal with the College Football Playoff, which was announced in March, allowed it to sublicense games to other networks. Financial terms of the sublicense were not announced.
“Our strategy has always been to try and round out our portfolio and continue to add the right set of rights whenever there is a possibility,” TNT Sports Chairman and CEO Luis Silberwasser said to The Associated Press. “When we look at the landscape and what can really bring in massive levels of audience that is in the popular culture and must watch, the College Football Playoff is at the top of the list.”
TNT Sports was one of the companies that bid on the CFP rights package before ESPN retained it.
Rosalyn Durant, ESPN’s executive vice president for programming and acquisitions, said TNT approached ESPN after the renewal deal was announced and things progressed from there.
As to which quarterfinal games TNT might carry when the deal expands in two years, Durant said that remains to be determined.
Even though TNT does not air regular-season college football and basketball games, it will carry the two biggest tournaments. TNT has been a partner with CBS in airing the NCAA Tournament since 2011 and has a deal through 2032.
This will be the first season of the 12-team playoff. ESPN has carried the College Football Playoff since it started in the 2014 season. It replaced the Bowl Championship Series.
Four first-round games will take place Dec. 20-21 on the campuses of the higher seeds, followed by the quarterfinals Dec. 31-Jan. 1 in the Fiesta, Peach, Rose and Sugar bowls. The semifinals are the Orange Bowl on Jan. 9 and Cotton Bowl on Jan. 10 before the championship game on Jan. 20 in Atlanta.
Kickoff times for the CFP are expected to be announced June 6, when ESPN releases its bowl schedule.
It’s another instance of ESPN and TNT teaming up. The two work closely together because they have rights to the NBA and NHL.
CFP games on TNT also will be streamed on Max, while the entire playoff will be on Venu Sports — the streaming platform planned by ESPN, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery that was announced in February.
Besides adding the NHL three years ago and NASCAR next year, TNT’s future carrying the NBA remains up in the air as discussions continue with the league on a new rights agreement.
Silberwasser said the CFP was something TNT was looking at independent of how NBA discussions are going.
“We continue to be optimistic about it and are working with them on different scenarios,” Silberwasser said about the NBA talks. “We continue to have productive conversations with them, and we hope to make a deal that is good for both.”
ESPN’s rights to the College Football Playoff run through the 2031 season. The title game moves to ABC in 2026.
