Disney's ESPN, College Football Playoff Reach New Agreement: What's Going On?

Walt Disney Co’s DIS ESPN announced two new agreements with the College Football Playoff.

What To Know: ESPN, a subsidiary of Disney, and the College Football Playoff reached a $7.8 billion agreement that ensured ESPN would continue to be the exclusive rightsholder for the college football playoffs through the 2031-32 season. 

ESPN has been the exclusive home of the College Football Playoff event since its inception in 2015. The format will expand in the fall and include 12 teams in total moving forward. The deal will give ESPN exclusive rights to all playoff games after the expansion for the final two seasons remaining on its initial contract with the College Football Playoff.

ESPN also inked a new six-year deal, beginning in the 2026-2027 season, that will cost $1.3 billion annually and included exclusive rights to all rounds of the expanded playoff, as well as all ancillary programming connected to the playoff. The agreement provides expanded sales and sponsorship opportunities for Disney Advertising as the exclusive seller of the College Football Playoff Official Partner Program.

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"ESPN has worked very closely with the College Football Playoff over the past decade to build one of the most prominent events in American sports. We look forward to enhancing our valued relationship over the next two years, and then continuing it for six more as we embark on this new, expanded playoff era," said Jimmy Pitaro, chairman of ESPN.

"This agreement further solidifies ESPN as the home of college football, as well as the destination for the vast majority of major college championships for the next eight years."

The College Football playoffs have contributed to some of the most-watched days in ESPN’s history. In 2023-2024, the company attracted 23.6 million viewers to the College Football Playoff and saw 15.6% year-over-year growth across the trio of playoff games.

Tuesday’s agreement with the College Football Playoff comes after ESPN inked an eight-year deal with the NCAA in January. ESPN now has international rights to all major college championships and exclusive domestic rights to every major college championship outside of men's basketball.

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DIS Price Action: Disney shares are up about 26% year-to-date. The stock closed Tuesday up 0.58% at $114.51, according to Benzinga Pro.

Photo: Jacob Rice on Unsplash.