CFP Blasted for Playoff Expansion: 'No One Cares About the Fans!'

On Monday, news broke that the long-awaited media rights deal between the College Football Playoff (CFP) and ESPN had been reached, and that the new 24-team playoff would begin in 2027. The deal, a whopping 5-year, $1.7 billion agreement, plans to use a 19+4+1 format, in which 19 automatic-bid teams would qualify, plus the four conference champions from the Power 4 (even though conference championship games are eliminated by the expanded format, and one at-large bid from the Group of 6 conferences rounding out FBS. The deal was celebrated by CFP and ESPN officials who heralded the expansion as an historic initiative that would make the playoff even more exciting. Fans, however, blasted the deal as corporate greed under the guise of doing “what’s best” for the game. In particular, fans took exception to CFP Executive Rick Clark, who said he knew fans weren’t supporting the expansion to 24 teams, but they were going to do it anyway. “We’re aware of the fan sentiment and that many fans aren’t in favor of expansion. That was certainly weighed into the decision. It was considered,” Clark said. “Ultimately we just need to make a spectacular Playoff. I mean, the CFP has a responsibility to our fans, they’re the lifeblood of college football. We owe it to them to make this great. That really is our intent. We appreciate our fans. We did take into account their sentiment. That was rolled into this decision. But we decided to move forward with it.” Fans did not let these comments pass without a hot response. “Allow me to translate….we know the huddled masses are yearning to be free from our ongoing fiddling. We also know, like sheep, we can lead them, they’ll watch and buy. We’re doing it anyway because….$$$$,” one fan wrote. “We hear you, but we don’t care,” wrote another. “It would have been better to say nothing than this,” opined another. “In less words: ‘We heard what the fans think, and we don’t give a fuck,'” asserted another. The first-round new college football playoff will take place on December 9, 2027.