TNT Sports is on the verge of getting even more College Football Playoff inventory as part of its sublicensing agreement with ESPN.
ESPN and TNT Sports are set to expand their College Football Playoff sublicensing agreement to include one semifinal per year from 2026-28, Ross Dellenger of Yahoo Sports reported Friday. The addition of a semifinal would give TNT Sports five of the 11 total CFP games under the 12-team format — at least one from each round of the expanded playoffs, save for the national championship.
Under the initial version of the agreement, which went into effect last season, TNT Sports was to carry two first round games each year plus two quarterfinal games per year from 2026-28. ESPN always had the option to sublicense a semifinal game to TNT starting in 2026, as reported last year by Alex Sherman of CNBC (and recalled Friday by independent reporter Matt Sarzyniak).
The ESPN cable networks have exclusively aired every single CFP semifinal since the playoff began in the 2014-15 season. With the expansion of the sublicensing agreement, plus a commitment by ESPN to place at least one game per round on ABC, ESPN would not have exclusive coverage of either semifinal during those seasons.
In addition to the CFP agreement, ESPN has separately agreed to sublicense some Big 12 football and men’s basketball games to TNT in exchange for the right to license the network’s “Inside the NBA” studio show for its own NBA coverage starting next season.
