Can the playoff fund its promise?

Measured historical context: ESPN reports 37 billion viewing minutes across the 11 games of the 2025-season playoff, or about 617 million viewer-hours. The calculator’s separate standardized baseline is about 636 million hours: CFP game-level audiences multiplied by an assumed 3.5 hours. The source series and measurement bases differ. The gap does not isolate game duration; matched telecast durations are still missing.

The CFP’s reported totals put 2025-season first-round audiences between about 4.4 million and 14.9 million. Those differences make a single television value per added game hard to defend. Matchups, distribution and competing broadcasts differ; the figures do not isolate the format’s effect. CFP historical audience table →

There is also evidence against assuming expansion must shrink the regular season. ESPN reported 2025 audience growth of 16% across its rated networks, or 8% excluding Big Data measurement. Team popularity, realignment, rights migration and schedule changes still prevent a causal conclusion. ESPN regular-season release · December 5, 2025 →

Nielsen’s out-of-home and Big Data changes require a consistent measurement basis. Initial network releases and the CFP’s reported totals can also differ; the downloadable data preserve the chosen source rather than silently merging them. Nielsen methodology update →

The four Power Four title games in December 2025 had very different audiences. These are historical observations; removing future games remains a scenario.

At the model’s standardized 3.5 assumed hours per game, those audiences imply 168.2 million viewer-hours, replacing the earlier unsupported 120 million central assumption. Multiplying by official game durations gives a separate 154.4 million hour proxy. Neither is a measured Nielsen viewing-minute total: the audience measurement windows may extend beyond kickoff and the final whistle.

Future matchups, scheduling, measurement and diversion to other programs can change the loss. These hours establish neither unique fans nor the price of replacing conference rights. Download the observations, source links and calculation limits →

Assumption-based calculations, not forecasts or confidence intervals. The comparison uses the 2025 regular-season viewing scale, assumes 3.5 hours per game and subtracts displaced viewing. It measures standardized viewer-hours, not unique fans, advertising income or rights fees. The title-game displacement stress uses assumed multiples of four-thirds and two-thirds of the new historical anchor; these are scenario bounds, not statistical intervals.

Each format leads under a different set of assumptions. In the central illustration, 18 breaks even with 12 at a net regular-season audience change of about −2.87%; 24 at −0.85%. With the downside postseason assumptions, they instead need regular-season gains of about 4.96% and 12.19%. These thresholds move when the inputs change.

Holding the other central inputs fixed, 24 overtakes 18 if its net regular-season response is about 2.03 percentage points stronger. That is a question for evidence, not a prediction that the difference will occur.

Inputs behind the central illustration

• Regular-season baseline: 179 billion reported viewing minutes in 2025, or 2.983 billion viewer-hours.
• Expanded opening rounds: assumed 7 million average viewers; following rounds of twelve or sixteen: 10 million. Quarterfinal, semifinal and final audiences use 2025 reported round averages as scenario anchors.
• Other CFB viewing displaced by early rounds: 15% of their hours, excluding losses already counted below.
• Net replacement-bowl losses: assumed 35 million hours for 18 and 70 million for 24. Removed Power Four title games: 168.217 million standardized hours for 24, calibrated to the four 2025 audiences at the assumed 3.5 hours per game. Future removal and viewing loss remain assumptions.
• Regular-season change: assumed 1.5% relevance gain minus 1% loss from weaker stakes, giving +0.5% for each expanded format.

Boundary: this is a playoff-format comparison, not a valuation of the complete BetterCFB proposal. Its separate National Tournament and broader bowl changes require additional demand and cost estimates. No rights offer, school cash surplus or regional benefit follows from these hours.

Download the public data, all scenario inputs and reproducible Python model →

Measure qualification, single and double byes, hosting and title chances separately using information available before kickoff. Compare win-versus-loss changes in those probabilities while accounting for team quality, popularity, network, kickoff time, competing games, realignment, COVID and measurement changes. Test games with already-settled incentives as a placebo.

We still need a complete regular-season game panel, calibrated pregame probabilities, consistent viewing durations and shared-viewer data. Sequential viewing by the same fan creates real viewer-hours; it is not another unique fan. Attendance needs a separate test for stadium capacity and tickets purchased before the stakes were known.

Audience, broadcaster contribution and negotiated rights payments are different outcomes. Rights payments are a broadcaster expense and a football organization’s receipt; they cancel when those parties are consolidated. Visitor spending remains a separate regional question.

They may—but more money for a city, broadcaster or bowl operator is not necessarily more cash for a school. Neither venue has a verified financial advantage in our matched school case.

Compare the same round and date, count what each party retains after costs, and separate regional spending from actual payments.

Wider access is the proposal’s sporting aim. Extra games also create costs; we have not established that they produce extra net revenue or justify the additional game burden.

Test the added entrants and longest paths, then price the full inventory without counting displaced games or internal transfers as new income.

A promised service needs an identified payer, funded amount and payment date. The proposal puts athlete protections ahead of discretionary distributions; it does not claim that those funding commitments already exist.

Price team travel, required athlete services and student access separately. Verify local capacity and cash timing; published conference expense support is not automatically the school’s retained share.

It could under poorly designed payment terms. The proposal treats a shorter path as an earned reward; it should not make an unnecessary game financially preferable or leave a bye recipient with an unfunded obligation.

Separate expense reimbursement, hosting receipts, advancement rewards and shared distributions. Compare each school’s funded obligations along all entry paths before agreeing to rates.

Launch must wait if responsible parties cannot fund the commitments. Athlete protections cannot be the balancing item. No committed reserve or shortfall backstop is established by the published worksheets.

Combine weaker demand with higher costs and late receipts. Identify enforceable shortfall funding and accessible cash, then require an independent finding—not merely a positive annual total.

Editorial checks recorded October 9, 2026. These are not outside reviews or financial approval.

Four public sources checked; venue advantage unresolved

The test

Compare the same school, round and period. Separate rights payments, retained school cash, operator margin and local visitor activity; reconcile internal transfers once.

Still needed

Matched event settlements, school sharing terms, complete hosting and travel costs, rights offers and cash dates.

What would change the recommendation?

If comparable net cash and funded access consistently favor destination games, reconsider the financial case for later campus rounds through an explicit policy review—not a silent venue change.

Existing access cases; funding and service delivery unresolved

The test

Use each campus's actual exams and break dates. Verify tickets, housing, dining, transport, accessibility and staffing along the longest paths.

Still needed

Local service plans, dated provider quotes, eligibility and capacity, payment commitments and fallback authority.

What would change the recommendation?

A campus that cannot deliver funded access and safe operation needs the existing hosting fallback; a campus label alone does not pass the test.

Historical participants identified; transition cash unresolved

The test

Follow displaced teams into the historical comparison, then test contracts, dates, sponsorship and replacement demand separately. Keep alumni-market access distinct from immediate cash.

Still needed

Operator settlements, contract obligations, alumni-origin evidence and agreed, funded transition terms.

What would change the recommendation?

If a credible transition case fails, revise or defer that transition. Keeping a bowl name does not preserve its full business; no closure or loss amount is assumed.

Historical comparison published; sporting judgment remains open

The test

Inspect added entrants' selection-date records, best wins, schedule context, champion exceptions and displaced destinations across seasons.

Still needed

Broader comparable seasons and an explicit assessment of access, competitive benefit and game burden—not a new arbitrary win threshold.

What would change the recommendation?

Repeated weak additions, little competitive benefit or access concentrated in already dominant conferences would count against expansion. Any field-size revision requires the owner's decision.

Mechanics and simulation are not a causal rest study

The test

Compare days since the last actual game, title-game participation, practice, recovery and travel against arithmetically feasible alternatives.

Still needed

Comparable historical rest data and sensitivity tests that do not build a favorable rest effect into win probabilities.

What would change the recommendation?

If the longer gap creates an unacceptable competitive or player burden, review a feasible alternative while checking champion access, rounds and calendar. A single upset proves no causal effect.

Short guide published; reader check not recorded

The test

Ask five unfamiliar readers to explain field size, the top-two reward, reseeding and that this is a proposal after a minute without looking.

Still needed

Recorded misunderstandings and corrected wording; no comprehension result or support rate is claimed.

What would change the recommendation?

If readers cannot explain it, shorten or clarify the introduction—not the underlying rules. Five readers are a usability check, not public validation.

Dec 8–15 · Campus · 14 teams remain, including teams with byes.

Fund host operations and visiting-team travel; assign ticket receipts, student access and relocation responsibility.

Dec 15–22 · Bowl · 8 teams remain, including teams with byes.

Test six simultaneous-stage bowl businesses: earlier dates, participant demand, media windows, guarantees and transition costs.

Dec 31–Jan 2 · Campus · 4 teams remain, including teams with byes.

Budget winter-break student access, staffing, weather protection and a funded neutral fallback before awarding a host.

Jan 5–11 · Campus · 2 teams remain, including teams with byes.

Test a second late-campus round, repeated travel and host readiness; do not assume semifinal demand equals an opening round.

Jan 12–18 · Neutral · 1 champion, including teams with byes.

Price the destination event separately, including venue terms, participant support and a broadcast window that is not secured.

CFP bracket only; other bowls and the proposed National Tournament require separate ledgers. These totals exclude regular-season and conference championship games, which still affect workload, scheduling and demand.

Compare the complete postseason ecosystem before claiming a net gain: added playoff participants may leave other bowls, and the National Tournament adds its own events, costs and rights questions.

A 24-team single-elimination bracket would require 23 games by arithmetic. The dated 12/18/24 comparison records the reported venue and bye structure. Calendar and commercial terms still need agreement; it is not an approved format.

Broadcaster or sponsor → contracted rights holder → contracted recipients

Rights schedule, production obligations, settlement dates, sharing rules and incremental value of this format. The existing rights price is not a per-game price to multiply by 17.

Attendees and partners → ticket seller or event operator → contract-defined recipients

Paid attendance, price, refunds, hospitality, parking, concessions, fees and retained shares. A campus location does not establish that the host keeps every receipt.

Central organizer → conference or independent → school or expense payee

Actual allocation, conference deductions, travel allowance, who pays first and who bears an overrun. A conference payment is not automatically a school payment.

Responsible organizer or school → venue, staff and travel suppliers

Security, medical provision, officials, staffing, production, utilities, travel, lodging, insurance and taxes. Match each expense to one payer and any reimbursement.

Committed funding → service provider or supported participant

Name the funded service, eligibility, responsible payer and cost: transport, tickets, lodging and required athlete support. Do not treat unpaid obligations as savings.

Named reserve or guarantor → affected operator, school or supplier

Who carries ticket guarantees, weather relocation, cancellation, standby and bowl-transition costs? Record reserve funding, payment triggers and cash timing.

Visitors → hotels, restaurants and other local businesses

Report separately from playoff and school cash. Test displacement, spending that would occur anyway and public-service costs; spending is not the same as net local benefit.

Illustration only: if an organizer transfers $100 to a conference and the conference forwards $80 to a school, the school records $80 received. A combined organizer–conference–school ledger removes those internal transfers; it does not report $180 of new revenue.

If a school pays $20 for travel and receives $20 reimbursement, show both for its cash timing. In the combined ledger, count the external travel bill once and eliminate the internal reimbursement.

Keep separate results for school net cash, event-operator net cash, the combined format budget, fan trip costs and local economic effects. Local spending can overlap ticket and hospitality receipts and must not simply be added to them.

• Season, game round, venue, scenario and comparison baseline.
• Payer, initial recipient, final retained share and contract or source.
• Gross receipts, internal transfers, external expenses and reimbursements.
• Payment date, guarantee, reserve and shortfall responsibility.
• Low, central and high assumptions; missing amounts remain unknown.

No settled dollar forecast or commercial allocation is published in this inventory. Read the annual school benchmarks →

Break-even: $800,000 in retained campus event receipts. Holding every other central-case input fixed, that produces the same $200,000 school net as the bowl. Above that threshold campus retains more; below it the bowl does. Retained receipts—not gross ticket sales—are the relevant input.

Downside example: campus receipts fall to $800,000 and hosting costs rise to $1,300,000. All other inputs stay fixed. Campus net becomes -$100,000; the unchanged bowl case retains $200,000, or $300,000 more. These are a joint stress test, not probabilities or a complete low/high forecast.

Different conference allocations, bowl guarantees, travel obligations or access costs also move the threshold. A venue's school cash advantage is not proof of superior total-system revenue, fan access or athlete welfare.

• The school is the recipient of retained receipts and payer of every displayed cost. Reimbursements enter the retained distribution once. Operations, team travel, student access, insurance and standby costs are separate.
• The final three cost rows must also account for required ticket purchases, family support where adopted, coaching bonuses, transition obligations and other attributable costs. No real cost is assumed absent because it is not separately named.
• Media receipts, organizer and bowl accounts, visiting-school cash, public spending, facility investment and payment timing need separate reconciliation. City visitor spending is not school cash. This illustration cannot approve a venue or fund a launch.
• To replace these assumptions: obtain same-round settlements and executed venue terms, itemized costs, conference allocation and cash dates. Confirm equal service commitments and record who funds any shortfall.

The CFP's official distribution terms, checked October 9, 2026, distinguish conference expense support from school retained cash. They do not supply this hypothetical school's venue settlement.

Ohio State · FY2025

Participation receipts

$17,452,406 · Category 19

Football postseason distributions

$10,665,018 · Category 13A, football row

Participation costs

$11,871,668 · Category 41

Coaching bonuses

$4,892,664 · Category 41A

Hosting expenses

$2,223,252 · Category 41B

Expanded annual subtotal: $9,129,840. Two receipt rows minus three expense rows. Not total football profit, retained game cash or evidence that one venue earns more.

Penn State · FY2025

Participation receipts

$5,349,583 · Category 19

Football postseason distributions

$20,530,530 · Category 13A, football row

Participation costs

$6,979,412 · Category 41

Coaching bonuses

$4,096,838 · Category 41A

Hosting expenses

$2,523,455 · Category 41B

Expanded annual subtotal: $12,280,408. Two receipt rows minus three expense rows. Not total football profit, retained game cash or evidence that one venue earns more.

Annual rows reconciled; matched event returns unavailable

The earlier four-row subtotal excluded category 13A football postseason distributions. It must not be interpreted as a postseason loss.

Campus game net

Unknown

Destination game net

Unknown

Matched venue difference

Not calculable yet

• Same-school, same-round event receipts and remittances
• Hosting, travel, bonuses and access costs allocated once by event
• Conference sharing terms and actual payment dates
• Comparable destination terms or a clearly labeled counterfactual

Still needed: retained event receipts, actual sharing terms, allocated travel and hosting costs, funded student access and payment dates. Include visiting-only and lower-resource schools before generalizing.

No verified event settlement was obtained. Annual values are not prefilled into the game worksheet; missing returns remain unknown, not zero. No record fees were paid and no requests were sent.

Read the CFP payment terms →

Tickets and hospitality

Executed hosting terms and sales-channel settlement: gross sales, refunds, remittances and retained share.

Parking and concessions

Venue and vendor agreements specifying the school share, commission base and settlement.

Hosting and public safety

Itemized operating costs, reimbursements, cost caps, public support and uncovered costs.

Payment and shortfall

Actual cash dates, conference allocation, reserve access and the party responsible for a deficit.

These records have not yet been verified for the matched campus case. Keep missing receipts and costs blank—not zero—and do not treat reported ticket sales as retained cash.

Georgia Tech · 2025–26

Reported ACC distribution growth

9% year over year

Drivers cited by the school

Bowl qualification, final CFP Top 25 ranking and football viewership.

The July 2026 school announcement said financial reporting still needed finalization. It gives no dollar split by incentive and does not isolate playoff hosting profit.

Proposal implication: separate base sharing, advancement rewards and expense support. Apply each conference's actual allocation; test whether hosting incentives weaken the reward for a bye.

The school allocation and current CFP pass-through rate remain unverified. This is not a rule for every conference.

Ohio State vs. Tennessee · December 21, 2024

September 2025 Athletic Business coverage attributes these figures to Dispatch records reporting. They remain rounded secondary figures, not a verified settlement.

Reported gross receipts

$19,700,000

Remitted to CFP

Nearly $14,000,000

Reported net revenue

$5,100,000 · not verified all-in profit

4 games to schedule. Fit four opening games around existing college events and other broadcasts. Check recovery from conference championships, exam calendars and production capacity.

Official 2026–27 CFP dates →

6 games to schedule. Find room for six bowl games without assuming six exclusive prime-time slots. Review overlap with the current CFP opening round, other bowls and NFL games; earlier dates change the product being sold.

Official 2026–27 CFP dates →

4 games to schedule. The New Year period already carries CFP quarterfinals. Test the venue change separately from the round's existing audience, and fund winter-break access and weather contingencies.

Official 2026–27 CFP dates →

2 games to schedule. The 2026–27 reference puts NFL Week 18 on January 9–10, inside this illustrative window. Clear specific kickoffs and host readiness; do not call the entire week conflict-free.

Official 2026–27 CFP dates → · NFL's 2026–27 important dates →

1 game to schedule. NFL Wild Card Weekend is January 16–18 in the reference season. A Saturday target inside that weekend is not a protected window; the agreed fallback still needs pricing and approval.

Official 2026–27 CFP dates → · NFL's 2026–27 important dates →

First round

4 games · Dec 18–19, 2026

Quarterfinals

4 games · Dec 30, 2026 · Jan 1, 2027

Semifinals

2 games · Jan 14–15, 2027

Championship

1 game · Jan 25, 2027

Official 2026–27 CFP dates →

These are current-format dates. No network, kickoff or exclusive window has been secured for this proposal. The December 23–30 no-game pause remains part of the proposed timeline.

Same round. Different audiences. ESPN's January 22, 2026 release reports these average audiences for the 2025–26 season. All four first-round games are shown, with the championship as a separate reference.

Alabama at Oklahoma

14.9 million · First round · ESPN / ABC

Miami at Texas A&M

14.8 million · First round · ESPN / ABC

Tulane at Ole Miss

6.2 million · First round · TNT / TBS / HBO Max

James Madison at Oregon

4.4 million · First round · TNT / TBS / HBO Max

Miami vs. Indiana

30.1 million · Championship · ESPN MegaCast

2025–26 game-by-game audiences →

These are not unique viewers to add together. Nor do they isolate venue effects: teams, stakes, dates, competition and network reach differ. A championship audience cannot be assigned to each added game.

The next valuation needs comparable games across multiple seasons, measured on a consistent basis, with matchup, round, network, kickoff, competing events and game competitiveness recorded.

ESPN's announced worldwide CFP rights run through 2031–32 and permit selected sublicensing. Campus hosting does not, by itself, give a school separate television rights.

ESPN–CFP rights extension →

Before pricing the proposal, obtain the applicable rights and change-of-format terms, bowl agreements, production obligations and distribution rules. A public announcement is not the full contract. No amendment or broadcaster approval is claimed here.

• Existing CFP games: reprice the changed rounds, venues and final date rather than adding new games to an unchanged baseline.
• Other bowls: identify participant shifts, ticket demand, sponsorship and rights effects. A displaced team does not prove an event is canceled.
• Other broadcasts: measure competition and overlap; a scarce prime-time slot has an opportunity cost.
• National Tournament: maintain its own inventory and costs. Do not assume its rights are included in the CFP package.

Compare the same season and the same budget boundary. Identify each affected rightsholder and avoid counting its loss twice.

Incremental media receipts retained within that same budget must cover any positive gap. A package fee is not automatically school cash; deduct contractual shares and follow the payment dates.

Test low, central and high cases together: weaker audiences, overlapping games, higher operating costs and a less valuable fallback night can occur at the same time.

No dollar valuation yet. Costs, retained receipts and negotiated rights changes are incomplete. Dividing the existing package price by eleven and multiplying by seventeen would not establish the proposal's value.

1. A kickoff grid with networks, overlaps, recovery intervals, academic conflicts and fallback windows.
2. A comparable audience dataset and broadcaster valuation—not one showcase game's ratings.
3. A contract review establishing who can change, sell and receive payment for each event.
4. A complete ecosystem comparison covering displaced events, costs, reserves and cash timing.
5. A downside case that still funds the promised experience, or an explicit policy decision if it cannot.

The window review is published. Negotiated pricing and calendar agreement remain open; the playoff rules have not changed.

2019 neutral championship · Historical terms only

CFP share

20% of the concessionaire's food-and-beverage commission—not gross sales.

Who pays whom?

Host committee → CFP Group.

The 2023 procedures report left offsite applicability and the related payment unresolved. It records exceptions and a refused management representation; it expresses no audit opinion.

This is not a current campus rule, school profit or a matched venue comparison. The full agreement and resolved settlement are still needed.

Miami-Dade · adopted hosting policy

R-158-24 was adopted February 21, 2024. These FY2025–26 amounts remain subject to available funds, budget and appropriation—not verified payments.

The quarterfinal and championship are separate events. Legacy projects, other public payers and actual service costs need their own accounting; these figures are not the full public cost or school profit.

The proposal's test: compare both venues before and after public support. Count grants as transfers within a combined public-and-event budget, keep service costs once, and test incremental tax receipts rather than equating visitor spending with public return.

The interactive dashboard did not load reliably during this check. No transaction amount or completed payment is verified here.

1. Find the payment. Search Orange Bowl, LLC and South Florida CFPNCG Host Committee, LLC separately. Begin with October 1, 2025–September 30, 2026; also inspect earlier advances and later adjustments. Record the dashboard's data-through date and payee spelling.
2. Match it to the event. Retain the disbursement number, date, amount and cancellation status. Match each candidate to its executed agreement and payment voucher. A payee match alone cannot assign money to a particular game.
3. Reconcile the cost. Check voids, replacements, refunds, multiple funding sources and event allocations. Reconcile fire-rescue services separately; a cash search does not establish in-kind costs. Count each underlying service cost once.
4. Keep the conclusion narrow. Publish a payment only with its supporting record and event scope. Missing search results are not zero payments; verified support still does not establish operator profit or net public benefit.

Six premier bowls

Rose, Sugar, Orange, Cotton, Peach and Fiesta host the proposed Round of 12 in the illustrative December 15–22 window.

Seed first, venue second

Six seeded slots rotate across the bowls on a published six-year cycle. The season’s site-and-window map is locked before Week 0; teams and ratings do not trigger a venue swap.

Other bowl operators

The proposal retains approximately 8–12 voluntary traditional bowls outside both tournaments, and allows regular-season showcases. These need separate budgets; they are not counted in the seventeen-game CFP.

Transition

Honor compatible obligations, negotiate accepted replacements or buyouts where needed, and publish a funded transition before the permanent structure takes effect.

These are existing proposal rules, not newly agreed commercial terms. Read the bowl chapter →

These operator-published estimates are evidence of a local economic argument, not proof that neutral sites deliver more spendable playoff cash. We have not independently validated their underlying models.

The Tournament of Roses strategic plan also treats the game and parade as connected assets. An earlier game requires testing that connection; this review does not propose moving the parade. Read the strategic plan →

No total across these examples. Their years, regions, events and measures differ. Do not add exposure value to a cash budget or add taxes and wages to output when they are already included.

Compare paid attendance, net ticket yield, school allotment obligations, refunds and unsold inventory. Test shorter booking lead times, work and exam conflicts, airfare, hotel nights and the cost of a possible later trip.

Evidence needed: Ticket settlement by sales channel; allotment contracts; anonymized visitor origins; booking, cancellation and hotel-block terms.

Downside test: A desirable matchup can still sell poorly when travel is expensive. Assign unsold-ticket and hotel-block risk instead of assuming the school absorbs it.

Review naming rights, exclusivity, suite and hospitality demand, activation dates, expected exposure and make-good obligations. Separate cash commitments from donated goods and modeled advertising value.

Evidence needed: Executed sponsor and hospitality agreements; renewal dates; cash schedules; comparable event settlements.

Downside test: Earlier dates or a lower elimination stage could reduce renewal value. Show retention and repricing scenarios; no sponsor uplift is assumed.

Reconcile event-level tickets, contracted distributions, sponsorship and hospitality against stadium rent, staffing, public safety, insurance, production, participant services and allocated overhead. Review charitable commitments separately.

Evidence needed: Operator event accounts; venue agreements; public-service settlements; insurance terms; audited annual accounts reconciled to the specific game.

Downside test: An annual surplus does not establish one game's margin. Separate recurring operation from one-time transition cash and do not count internal payments twice.

Measure additional non-local visitor spending, substitution, leakage, public costs and the no-event baseline. Keep direct spending, wider output, tax receipts and exposure in separate columns. Test hotel demand against the same dates without the event.

Evidence needed: Full impact methods and geography; visitor surveys; hotel data; public funding and service costs; parade or festival cross-attendance.

Downside test: Moving a game can separate it from a festival and redistribute activity between cities. A city benefit is not automatically a school receipt or spendable playoff funding.

These are paths to evaluate, not legal findings or commitments from operators. Existing contracts and specialist review determine which path is available.

No transition price yet. Unknown obligations remain unknown, not zero. Exposure and tourism estimates cannot fund a buyout. A replacement event needs a signed commercial case and must not erase campus home-game equity.

1. A contract inventory covering rights holders, six bowl operators, venues, sponsors, conferences and material public commitments, with expiry and notice dates.
2. Comparable event cash cases for the six sites, with low-demand tests, participant costs, public support and separate community effects.
3. Signed amendments, agreed replacements or documented expiry paths; a payer and due date for every transition obligation.
4. Committed funding for transition, athlete and student services and a tested downside reserve—not projected tourism or exposure value.
5. A public transition schedule consistent with the locked preseason slot map and six-year review, followed by event settlements and corrections.

The review framework is published. Operator settlements, contract terms, agreed replacements and the funded transition remain unresolved. No bowl date or playoff policy changes in this release.

Skip two rounds

3 playoff games to win the title: 2 campus games and 1 destination game.

Skip one round

4 playoff games to win the title: 2 campus games and 2 destination games.

Start in the opening round

5 playoff games to win the title: 3 campus games and 2 destination games.

These are complete title paths, not the expected trip for every entrant. Away-campus travel depends on matchups, certification and fallback venues. Bye protection can change who receives a route without changing these capacities.

The entire proposed bracket has 34 team game appearances, compared with 22 in the current CFP. That is not a count of unique teams, athletes or flights. Cost each actual itinerary; do not multiply one champion’s five-game path by all eighteen teams.

Required care can continue between games. The December 23–30 pause promises no tournament games—not automatic travel home, closed medical services or eight free days.

Transport, equipment, meals, housing, medical and rehabilitation access, insurance and academic support. Cost the required support during byes and the no-game pause as well as game trips.

Evidence needed: Roster and staff headcounts, travel itineraries, rooming plans, provider quotes, academic calendars and negotiated care standards.

When it must work: Reservations and service cover must exist before travel. Identify who advances cash and who pays if the conference reimbursement arrives later.

Boundary: No proposed recovery interval is medically certified here. Athlete representatives and qualified medical staff must approve standards; the cheapest itinerary cannot override them.

Affordable seats, transport, break housing and meals where needed. Include student workers and accessible attendance in host planning rather than assuming they are already on campus.

Evidence needed: Actual exam and break dates, available dorm and dining capacity, ticket allocations, bus quotes, demand surveys and staffing plans.

When it must work: Publish eligibility, application deadlines and available capacity before ticket sales and host certification. Avoid requiring students to front money they cannot afford.

Boundary: A seat discount alone does not make a trip affordable. Measure complete out-of-pocket cost and uptake, including students who cannot attend.

Define eligible people, covered rounds, transport, tickets, lodging, meals, benefit limits, accessibility and a hardship or correction process. These terms remain to be negotiated.

Evidence needed: Current CFP terms, confidential aggregate demand, actual trip quotes, benefit administration costs and the responsible payer’s agreement.

When it must work: Test advances or direct booking against reimbursement after the event. Establish decision deadlines, written reasons and a review route before bookings become non-refundable.

Boundary: The 2016 CFP announcement is precedent, not today’s benefit schedule. No amount, recipient count or all-round family entitlement is adopted by this review.

Tickets and fees, transport, hotels, meals, parking and accessibility. Compare traveling to a campus with traveling to a bowl at the same game stage; repeated trips matter.

Evidence needed: Comparable dated fare and lodging quotes, minimum stays, ticket prices and fees, refund conditions and anonymized fan surveys.

When it must work: Show booking lead time and cancellation exposure. Publish host, ticket and accessibility information with enough notice to make the trip practical.

Boundary: Ordinary fan spending is not automatically a funded benefit or school expense. Show it separately; add only explicitly funded subsidies to the organizer ledger.

Use a separate record for each service, school, round and scenario. A future priced case needs quantity, unit price, evidence, responsible funder and cash due date. The downloadable record contains blank templates; it is not a completed budget.

Keep low, central and high inputs internally consistent. Existing salaries or facilities belong in the incremental comparison only where extra cost or allocated overhead is identified. Record standby deposits, refunds and final settlement separately from the underlying expense.

No dollar total yet. Missing quotes remain unknown, not zero. Required services, attendance subsidies and private fan spending are separate ledgers. A subsidy is an expense to the funder, not a second revenue when budgets are consolidated.

Download the access templates and research record →

The CFP publishes a $3.18 million expense payment to a participating team’s conference for each round in 2026–27. That is not a verified school receipt, an individual benefit or a proposed-format allowance. Confirm the actual sharing terms and avoid treating the payment as both new income and a reduction in expense.

Current CFP distribution source →

The October 2016 announcement specified $2,500 per athlete for up to 125 families per institution at semifinals and the championship. Later AP reporting described a $3,000 per-game program for the 12-team launch. These dated benchmarks do not establish future eligibility, paid claims or cash dates. Compare the sourced support terms and insurance limits →

Historical family-support announcement →

1. Service and eligibility standards agreed with athlete representation and responsible institutions; medical, academic and accessibility review completed.
2. Dated quotes and quantities for each route, school and venue, with low, central and high cases and no unexplained blank rows.
3. A named payer, payment date, advance mechanism and remedy for each promised service; conference expense allowances reconciled without double-counting.
4. A combined downside case covering repeated travel, expensive flights, winter disruption, unsold capacity and delayed reimbursement, with committed reserves.
5. A public aggregate access report: funded seats, uptake, out-of-pocket ranges, unmet demand and service failures—without exposing individual family, medical or education records.

Start with contrasting cases: a winter-break host, a lower-resource visitor, an opening-round finalist and a double-bye finalist. Add the National Tournament and voluntary bowls as separate budgets before judging the whole ecosystem.

This batch publishes the costing framework, not a funded benefit schedule. Quotes, agreed standards and cash commitments remain outstanding.

The proposal puts athlete obligations before discretionary distributions and preserves base distributions. The sequence below is a review framework—not an adopted allocation or a legal order of creditor priority.

1. Establish contracted commitments and the full cost of protected services, access, events and administration.
2. Match payments to actual deadlines. Arrange approved advances or direct provider payment where a school or family cannot bridge the cost.
3. Fund the documented reserve and transition requirements; identify who pays if the downside exceeds them.
4. Only then test discretionary rewards and incremental sharing against remaining funds and the sporting protections.

Reserve additions set aside cash; they are not a second operating expense. When a reserve pays an eligible bill, record that bill once and the reserve movement separately. Required care is not the balancing item when a forecast fails.

Illustrative units, not dollars or a forecast. These small examples demonstrate the accounting only. Obligations include every required cost and committed payment in the example; reserve additions are separately withheld from funds available for rewards.

A positive annual balance does not pay a bill due before receipts arrive. Cash available must exclude money already committed elsewhere; payments due must use the same deadline. Unfunded or late cases hold discretionary sharing in this illustrative check, not cancel required services.

This is not a solvency certificate. Debt service, legal restrictions, existing reserves, multiple deadlines and the full ecosystem budget require separate review. There is no committed backstop or approved reserve amount yet.

• Byes: compare net support at the same achieved stage. Reimburse actual extra games without turning them into an incentive to prefer a lower seed.
• Hosting: separate the earned venue right from commercial settlement. Test small venues, winter-break access, high travel costs and a no-fault relocation.
• Qualification: check the National Tournament floor for outside-the-Power-Four CFP qualifiers; do not make the secondary event the better choice by leaving the primary opportunity unfunded.
• Advancement: cover the next trip before it happens. A performance bonus cannot substitute for travel or medical funding.
• Conference sharing: test what reaches the actual participant and what remains shared, including independent schools. Do not presume conference rules are identical.

Run these tests for a double-bye finalist, opening-round finalist, first-game exit, lower-resource visitor and relocated host. Financial tests do not authorize changing selection, byes or reseeding.

For 2026–27, the CFP states conference expense support of $3.18 million per participating team per round. Remaining distributions will be finalized after the championship and paid in spring 2027. The page lists 2025–26 participation and advancement terms separately; do not carry them forward as settled 2026–27 rules.

Conference distribution policies and a school's actual settlement are still needed to establish its retained amount. None of these figures establishes payments under the proposed eighteen-team format.

CFP distribution source →

• Competition, school, conference, season and round
• Payment category and eligibility trigger
• Source of funds and responsible payer
• Gross entitlement, deductions and retained school share
• Advance amount, due date and settlement date
• Actual eligible costs, refunds and duplicate-payment checks
• Shortfall owner, fallback terms and dispute process
• Evidence, approval, audit status and public aggregate reporting

Publish institutional totals and formulas, not family identities, bank details or medical information. A central reimbursement received by a school is a transfer within the consolidated system, not new external revenue. Record advances against final entitlement—not as a second award.

Download the payment framework and worked tests →

1. Reconcile the full ecosystem budget, including protected services, contracted base payments, administration and funded transition—not just the CFP events.
2. Document eligible costs, direct recipients, conference sharing, title paths and the protected tournament floor without double-counting transfers.
3. Test low receipts, cost inflation, late rights payments and a relocated host together. Name a solvent shortfall funder and a credible cash facility; neither is established here.
4. Set reserve coverage, replenishment, draw authority and reporting from documented downside needs, not an arbitrary percentage of revenue.
5. Require independent review, athlete input, published aggregate settlements and an appeal route before adopting any allocation formula.

Sharing percentages, reserve amounts, payment caps and binding risk allocations remain unagreed. This batch tests the structure; it does not promise new entitlements or certify that the format funds itself.

CFP

17 games · 10 campus · 6 bowls · 1 neutral final

National Tournament

15 games · 14 campus · 0 bowls · 1 neutral final

Combined tournaments

32 games · 24 campus · 6 bowls · 2 neutral finals

The National Tournament’s four rounds

Round of 16

8 campus games; 8 teams remain.

Quarterfinals

4 campus games; 4 teams remain.

Semifinals

2 campus games; 2 teams remain.

Championship

1 neutral game; 1 champion.

This follows the existing sixteen-team proposal: campus hosting for the first three rounds and a distinct neutral final. The two fields are separate; eliminated CFP teams do not transfer into the National Tournament.

The combined 64 team game appearances are not 64 distinct teams or travel itineraries. Reconcile actual hosts, trips and replacements. No count or revenue is assumed for voluntary bowls, regular-season operator events or other competitions.

Read the National Tournament rules →

Every amount is currently unknown. Each downloadable template needs competition, payer, recipient, amount, evidence, due date, scenario and recurring or one-time status. Do not treat a blank line as zero or call these templates a funded budget.

Distributions leaving the chosen accounting perimeter are not eliminated as internal transfers. Define the included entities first, then classify each transaction consistently with its recipient and underlying cost.

Suppose an organizer receives 100 illustrative units from outside the system, transfers 20 to an included school, and the school pays 15 to a travel supplier. The consolidated system has 100 of external receipts and 15 of external cost—not 120 of revenue, and not 35 of cost.

The transfer remains visible in the organizer and school ledgers. At consolidation, eliminate that internal payment and keep the supplier bill once. Direct organizer payment of the same bill produces the same consolidated cost.

A reserve addition reduces funds available for discretionary sharing; it does not create another supplier expense. A later reserve draw is a funding movement, not new operating revenue. Advances, final settlements, refunds and capital financing need their own reconciliation.

The download’s consolidated result remains unknown. Its arithmetic refuses missing amounts, negative inputs, duplicate transaction IDs and non-finite values. A valid arithmetic result still requires a completeness review and independently supported classifications.

• Keep the current-format baseline, proposed steady-state year and adoption year separate, with the same price basis and accounting perimeter.
• Do not assume National Tournament audiences, ticket demand or production costs match the CFP. A shared rights package needs one receipt and a documented allocation.
• Separate cash outlays, recurring operating expenses, capital investment, depreciation and financing; neither borrowing nor reserve draws create operating revenue.
• Treat local visitor spending and private fan expenses outside the organizer budget unless a specific subsidy or retained receipt enters it.
• A positive consolidated result can hide an unfunded school or service. Reconcile the organizer, conference, school and provider ledgers and their payment deadlines too.

Use one currency, price year and period. Source low, central and high assumptions as coherent scenarios—not best-case receipts paired with best-case costs. Track tax, insurance exclusions and provider contingencies without silently adding them twice.

1. Define all included competitions, organizations, services and accounting periods.
2. Obtain contracts and quotes for each line, including year-round and post-eligibility athlete obligations.
3. Reconcile internal transfers, external payments, committed base distributions and the protected National Tournament floor.
4. Build both adoption-year and steady-state cash schedules with named payers and due dates.
5. Test the complete system and each participant against combined downside conditions; document reserves and binding shortfall responsibility.
6. Publish reviewed assumptions, gaps and aggregate settlements before approving launch.

There is no approved ecosystem dollar total or committed funding plan yet. This batch establishes the shared inventory and budget structure; it does not establish commercial feasibility.

Download the complete-budget templates →

Document which assumptions move together. A low-demand case can also have refunds, expensive relocation and late settlement. Run the same combined case across the whole budget and the affected schools; isolated tests can miss that concentration.

Illustrative units—not dollars, probabilities or a forecast. Opening cash excludes the separate reserve and funds already restricted or committed elsewhere. Each period lists cash received and bills paid; reserve movements are not revenue.

The baseline and late-payment cases end with the same cash, but delayed receipts create a larger peak need. Do not add the year-end deficit to the peak need; it is already included in the running balance.

The check assumes each period’s receipts arrive before its payments. Use finer dated steps when a bill comes first, and include the full repayment horizon. Missing cash inputs or out-of-order periods produce no result. Coverage in an illustrative case is not a solvency certificate or an approved reserve policy.

• Available: exclude restricted, pledged or already committed funds. Name the holder and authorized users.
• Timed: confirm money can be drawn before the bill is due—not after an annual audit.
• Sized: test supported combined scenarios, cash peaks and continuing obligations. No reserve percentage is selected here.
• Enforceable: identify triggers, caps, approvals, exceptions, repayment and replenishment. An uncommitted guarantee is not coverage.
• Auditable: distinguish contributions, draws and funded expenses; count each supplier bill once.

Insurance is not automatically cash available. Exclusions, deductibles, claim disputes and payment delays need separate testing. Borrowing bridges time only where terms are committed and repayment is funded; it does not repair a permanent revenue deficit by itself.

1. Confirm the shortfall and the services or payments affected; notify the responsible governing body and protected-service representatives.
2. Use only approved, accessible reserves or binding funding facilities. Track draws, restrictions and repayment separately from revenue.
3. Hold discretionary sharing where necessary; honor protected services and existing commitments through the agreed backstop—not an assumed rescue by schools or families.
4. If obligations still cannot be funded, fail or defer the launch gate and follow the agreed contingency process. No automatic sporting-rule change is authorized.
5. Publish aggregate draws, unresolved gaps, decisions and replenishment requirements; independently review before the next commitment.

This is a response framework, not an agreed allocation of legal liability. Required rights, services and funding terms need the relevant parties’ review.

No actual reserve, binding guarantee or peak cash requirement is established yet. The priced budget, cash deadlines and shortfall contracts remain incomplete. The illustrative examples do not pass the proposal’s financial launch gate.

Before approval: complete adoption and steady-state budgets, verify each entity’s coverage, obtain named and enforceable funding, test relocation and continuing athlete obligations, and publish independent review with unresolved gaps.

Download the stress tests and unresolved coverage record →

The 17-game CFP needs a full budget, not a multiplication of extra games by an assumed television price. Reconcile retained rights, tickets, sponsorship and hospitality against travel, hosting, production, access services and shared obligations. Compare the same round and matchup under campus and neutral-site alternatives. Separate expense support from advancement rewards so an earned bye does not create an unfunded obligation or pressure a team to play an unnecessary game.

A dedicated Round-of-12 weekend gives the six bowls a clear competitive role, but their earlier dates and different matchups need a new commercial case. Evaluate each operator's settlement, school receipts, sponsorship, hospitality, attendance and local public-service costs against the existing event. Regional visitor spending is not operator profit or money available to fund athlete services. Price and fund contract transition obligations before replacing existing inventory.

The 16-team National Tournament adds 15 games and must be included alongside the CFP in the 32-game tournament budget. Test a right-sized neutral final, campus hosting and every team's travel and access commitments using the tournament's own demand assumptions. Do not borrow a CFP audience or payout to price this competition. Identify its protected operating floor, payment dates and shortfall owner before offering participation; the allocation remains unagreed until independently reviewed.

A proposed date is not a secured broadcast window or an additional rights payment. Evaluate competing programming, production capacity, displaced inventory and negotiated fallbacks before estimating incremental retained value. Map travel deposits, hosting work and access payments against receipt dates for each responsible entity. A positive annual budget cannot excuse a cash shortage before a game, and a television preference cannot waive recovery or academic protections.

Cost medical and recovery services, independent advice, family assistance where adopted, and accessible student attendance as explicit obligations rather than leftover benefits. Record eligible participants, service standards, dated quotes, responsible payers and advance-payment deadlines. An institutional reimbursement is not automatically an individual entitlement. Publish aggregate service outcomes without exposing private athlete information, and do not use promised services as the balancing item when receipts disappoint.

The governing compact must identify who can approve the budget, who holds protected funds and who can authorize a reserve draw. Institutions, rights holders and event operators need enforceable payment and shortfall terms; a proposed backstop is not available cash. Independent review must examine conflicts, inter-entity transfers and payment deadlines, with a public explanation of funding gaps and the conditions that would stop launch.

The launch record must reconcile the 17-game CFP and 15-game National Tournament, separately define any voluntary bowl inventory, and distinguish one-time adoption costs from recurring operations. Price shared athlete and governance obligations once; eliminate transfers when consolidating while preserving each entity's ability to pay on time. Combine weaker demand, lower receipts, higher costs and delayed payments in downside tests. Identify accessible reserves and binding shortfall commitments before approval. The published worksheets establish a review structure, not financial feasibility: prices, settlements and committed funding remain unresolved.

The proposal values destination traditions and a campus reward for higher-ranked survivors. Those preferences need financial testing: earlier bowl dates may change demand, and winter campus games require funded operations and student access.

The historical comparison identifies displaced bowl participants. It does not forecast canceled bowls or commercial losses. Read the proposed bowl transition →

The proposed two tournaments contain 32 games. Event costs, shared athlete obligations, administration and adoption costs need one reconciled budget; voluntary bowls still have an undefined inventory.

Next evidence: Price all ledgers, define the accounting perimeter and periods, reconcile transfers and build cash schedules before assessing the funding gap and combined downside coverage.

Expense support, base sharing and advancement rewards need separate settlements. A positive annual balance does not establish cash at the payment deadline or a school's retained share.

Next evidence: Obtain sharing contracts and full costs; test bye and hosting incentives, the protected tournament floor, payment deadlines, reserve needs and binding shortfall ownership before selecting an allocation.

CFP revenue distribution — College Football Playoff

Conference expense payments and historical family assistance do not establish current individual entitlements or a funded access budget for this proposal.

Next evidence: Obtain service standards, dated quotes, participant quantities, responsible payers and advance-payment terms; test the full title paths and public aggregate access outcomes.

2016 CFP family travel assistance announcement — College Football Playoff

CFP revenue distribution — College Football Playoff

Additional games need workable windows and negotiated value. Historical ratings do not isolate venue effects or price the proposed package.

Next evidence: Clear kickoffs and fallbacks, obtain comparable audience data and contract terms, and reconcile incremental retained receipts against the full funding gap.

Official 2026–27 CFP dates — College Football Playoff

ESPN–CFP rights extension — ESPN Press Room

2025–26 game-by-game audiences — ESPN Press Room

NFL's 2026–27 important dates — NFL Football Operations

Use the school's actual share and its own expenses in a school comparison.

Next evidence: Obtain the relevant conference sharing policy, school settlement and expense record for each case.

CFP revenue distribution — College Football Playoff

The September update describes media-rights discussions about potential expansion.

Next evidence: Refresh the official decision and define each alternative's rounds, calendar and displaced games before comparing value.

September 30 expansion update — College Football Playoff

Ohio State and Penn State report substantial postseason and hosting costs. Their annual filings do not establish an individual game's net return.

Next evidence: Reconcile event settlements and conference allocations; compare the same school and game stage with full costs, student services and risk ownership.

Ohio State FY2025 NCAA financial report — Ohio State University

Penn State FY2025 NCAA financial report — Penn State University

A historical concession-sharing term shows why gross sales differ from retained receipts. It does not establish current campus terms or a matched venue advantage.

Next evidence: Document current rights, tickets, hospitality, sponsorship, operating costs and actual recipients; account for round and matchup differences.

2019 championship host committee: agreed-upon procedures — Santa Clara Stadium Authority · The Pun Group

Published regional impact and exposure estimates do not establish operator profit or retained school cash. Earlier dates and a Round-of-12 role require a separate commercial case.

Next evidence: Reconcile six-site settlements, ticket and sponsor terms, local public costs and funded transition obligations; test an earlier event against the same baseline.

2026 South Florida CFP economic-impact release — Orange Bowl Committee

2024 Rose Parade and Rose Bowl economic-impact release — Tournament of Roses

Tournament of Roses 2023–2027 strategic plan — Tournament of Roses

Combined risks and dated cash schedules distinguish a permanent funding gap from temporary liquidity needs. Illustrative reserves do not establish actual coverage.

Next evidence: Obtain full costs, supported downside ranges, accessible reserve balances and binding backstops; independently test every entity and payment deadline before launch.

1. Identify the school, season, round, venues and applicable contracts.
2. Record the amount the school keeps, including reimbursements once. Document ticket obligations and all additional costs.
3. Source each estimate, name its payer and record who covers a shortfall.
4. Include funded student access and compare realistic combinations of receipts and costs.
5. Check cash timing, missing items and the assumptions that could reverse the result.

The worksheet is a first cash comparison. Media valuation, cash timing, facility investment, other revenue categories and complete format budgets require the next research stages. Put additional school receipts in the retained-receipts category with a clear note; do not count them twice.

The test. Compare retained cash for the same school, round and accounting period. Include ticket obligations, reimbursements, staffing, travel and incremental facility costs once.

The missing records. An authorized school finance contact would need to supply event settlements, ticket agreements, expense ledgers and reimbursement terms. Public benchmarks alone cannot price a new event.

What changes the decision. Amend the case if documented costs or realistic demand reverse the school return. Hold approval while material costs or payers are missing.

The test. Identify who owns each right, what can be sold, which existing inventory is displaced, and when cash arrives. More games or viewers do not establish a negotiated fee.

The missing records. An authorized rights holder would need to supply applicable rights terms, amendment requirements, priced offers and payment schedules. A broadcaster's valuation needs its assumptions and scope.

What changes the decision. Hold approval without authority to sell the inventory or a binding funding path. Revise windows if the commercial or recovery assumptions fail.

The test. Separate bowl operator cash, school receipts and host-city visitor spending. Test sponsorship, hospitality, ticket demand and transition obligations against the proposed round.

The missing records. Bowl operators and authorized host partners would need to supply settlements, venue and sponsor terms, ticket commitments and a funded transition plan. Any city-impact estimate needs its method and baseline.

What changes the decision. Amend the transition if a credible settlement shows lost value. Hold approval while obligations, replacement agreements or transition funding are unresolved.

The test. Check service standards, eligibility, capacity, actual out-of-pocket costs and payment deadlines on the longest paths. Positive event cash does not establish affordable attendance.

The missing records. Athlete and student representatives should review the service plan; schools and providers would need to supply travel, lodging, medical, family and student-access quotes and funding commitments.

What changes the decision. Hold approval if protected services, safe recovery or access commitments cannot be delivered and funded. Do not balance the plan by silently removing promised support.

The test. Use one stated perimeter and period. Reconcile payer and recipient ledgers, remove internal transfers from external revenue, and distinguish operating cost, capital, reserves and local impact.

The missing records. An independent accounting reviewer would need the consolidated ledger, transaction identifiers, source documents, accounting policies and explanations of exclusions, plus school and operator reconciliations.

What changes the decision. Hold any total that depends on double counting, unexplained exclusions or unknown inputs treated as zero. Reprice the full system after a material correction.

The test. Stress combined low receipts, high costs and late cash. Establish approval authority, reserve access, payment priority, shortfall responsibility and the procedure for changing a sporting rule.

The missing records. Authorized decision-makers and their advisers would need to supply commitments, guarantee and reserve terms, withdrawal conditions, approval records and a signed allocation of shortfall responsibility.

What changes the decision. Hold adoption if cash is unavailable when obligations fall due or no accountable party covers the gap. A financial finding may trigger a sporting-policy review; it does not silently change the bracket.

Use the dated research record, linked proposal chapters and the matching Word proposal. Review complete formats at the same cutoff; identify illustrative cases separately from documented prices and commitments.

• Document and version
• Provider and authority to share
• Season, round and accounting period
• Payer, recipient and retained amount
• Included costs, exclusions and transfer identifiers
• Source or calculation and uncertainty
• Cash dates, restrictions and shortfall owner
• Verification status and permitted public summary

Leave missing amounts unresolved—not zero. Ask the authorized record holder for a permitted summary when a contract cannot be shared. Do not publish personal, medical or confidential financial records.

• Claim tested and packet version
• Evidence and reviewer conflicts
• Supported, conditional, unresolved or contradicted
• Material effect on cash, access or timing
• Correction or objection and proposal response
• Decision owner, date and next evidence required

Preserve the original finding and the response. A conditional result needs explicit conditions; an unanswered objection stays unresolved. Review participation is not endorsement. No one has been contacted through this page.

Adoption remains on hold until authorized terms, reconciled priced inputs, funded services and accessible downside coverage support the same complete plan.

Separate a correctable assumption from a failed funding plan. Reopen affected cases after a material correction, and record any proposed change to field size, byes, hosting or dates as a separate policy decision.

ECON-SCHOOLS · Owner unassigned · No decision recorded

Evidence needed

An authorized school finance contact would need to supply event settlements, ticket agreements, expense ledgers and reimbursement terms. Public benchmarks alone cannot price a new event.

The decision test

Compare retained cash for the same school, round and accounting period. Include ticket obligations, reimbursements, staffing, travel and incremental facility costs once.

When to hold or reopen

Amend the case if documented costs or realistic demand reverse the school return. Hold approval while material costs or payers are missing.

ECON-MEDIA · Owner unassigned · No decision recorded

Evidence needed

An authorized rights holder would need to supply applicable rights terms, amendment requirements, priced offers and payment schedules. A broadcaster's valuation needs its assumptions and scope.

The decision test

Identify who owns each right, what can be sold, which existing inventory is displaced, and when cash arrives. More games or viewers do not establish a negotiated fee.

When to hold or reopen

Hold approval without authority to sell the inventory or a binding funding path. Revise windows if the commercial or recovery assumptions fail.

ECON-BOWLS · Owner unassigned · No decision recorded

Evidence needed

Bowl operators and authorized host partners would need to supply settlements, venue and sponsor terms, ticket commitments and a funded transition plan. Any city-impact estimate needs its method and baseline.

The decision test

Separate bowl operator cash, school receipts and host-city visitor spending. Test sponsorship, hospitality, ticket demand and transition obligations against the proposed round.

When to hold or reopen

Amend the transition if a credible settlement shows lost value. Hold approval while obligations, replacement agreements or transition funding are unresolved.

ECON-ACCESS · Owner unassigned · No decision recorded

Evidence needed

Athlete and student representatives should review the service plan; schools and providers would need to supply travel, lodging, medical, family and student-access quotes and funding commitments.

The decision test

Check service standards, eligibility, capacity, actual out-of-pocket costs and payment deadlines on the longest paths. Positive event cash does not establish affordable attendance.

When to hold or reopen

Hold approval if protected services, safe recovery or access commitments cannot be delivered and funded. Do not balance the plan by silently removing promised support.

ECON-ACCOUNTING · Owner unassigned · No decision recorded

Evidence needed

An independent accounting reviewer would need the consolidated ledger, transaction identifiers, source documents, accounting policies and explanations of exclusions, plus school and operator reconciliations.

The decision test

Use one stated perimeter and period. Reconcile payer and recipient ledgers, remove internal transfers from external revenue, and distinguish operating cost, capital, reserves and local impact.

When to hold or reopen

Hold any total that depends on double counting, unexplained exclusions or unknown inputs treated as zero. Reprice the full system after a material correction.

ECON-GOVERNANCE · Owner unassigned · No decision recorded

Evidence needed

Authorized decision-makers and their advisers would need to supply commitments, guarantee and reserve terms, withdrawal conditions, approval records and a signed allocation of shortfall responsibility.

The decision test

Stress combined low receipts, high costs and late cash. Establish approval authority, reserve access, payment priority, shortfall responsibility and the procedure for changing a sporting rule.

When to hold or reopen

Hold adoption if cash is unavailable when obligations fall due or no accountable party covers the gap. A financial finding may trigger a sporting-policy review; it does not silently change the bracket.

Check dates apply only to the named sources. The earlier research cutoff remains October 8; publishing an update does not reverify every source. Responsible owners remain unassigned. No automatic monitoring or expiry dates are implied.

For each check, retain the previous entry, record the checker and result, link corrections to affected claims, and set the next review date explicitly. A working link alone does not validate a financial claim.

This is a proposed review process, not an automatic monitoring service. Sources do not refresh themselves; each new check needs a recorded date and result. An unchanged website is not proof that the underlying evidence remains current.

• Decision ID and proposal version
• Question, alternatives and affected rules
• Evidence cutoff, linked findings and unresolved inputs
• Accountable decision-maker and actual authority
• Outcome, rationale, tradeoffs and dissent
• Funding and service conditions; who verifies them
• Effective date, affected publications and reopening trigger

No financial adoption decisions are recorded yet. Conditions must be verified before they are marked satisfied. Keep the original entry when a decision is superseded, and publish only material that the record holder permits to be shared.

1. Foundation: introduction, source record and school cash worksheet.
2. Game inventory and money flows: compare formats and identify every recipient and payer.
3. School cases: document retained receipts, operating costs and travel at contrasting campuses.
4. Media and calendar: examine windows, audiences, displaced games and revenue requirements.
5. Bowls: evaluate commercial changes, local effects and funded transition options.
6. Access: price student, athlete, family and visiting-fan commitments along each route.
7. Distributions: test reimbursements, rewards, byes, hosting and incentives.
8. Complete budget: cost the National Tournament, athlete support, administration and transition.
9. Downside tests: examine weak revenue, rising costs, relocation, cash timing and reserves.
10. Proposal integration: connect findings to chapters, calendar, evidence and downloads.
11. Outside review: record corrections and unresolved objections from relevant specialists and participants.
12. Decisions and upkeep: review policy options, preserve versions and refresh evidence.

Miami-Dade County primary source → · Source check recorded 2026-10-09

The county describes monthly payment data, payee/date searches and canceled disbursements marked VOID.

Limit: The county labels the data unaudited and unconsolidated. Search results do not replace underlying records or prove an event's net return.

Miami-Dade County primary source → · Source check recorded 2026-10-09

The county publishes copying and extended processing charges; requests are not guaranteed to be free.

Limit: A zero-dollar instruction is a requested spending constraint, not an accepted fee waiver or a guarantee of delivery.

Miami-Dade County primary source → · Source check recorded 2026-10-09

Adopted county policy separates conditional cash support and in-kind services for the Orange Bowl and championship.

Limit: Authorization is not proof of payment, full public cost, operator profit or net community benefit.

Ohio State University primary source → · Source check recorded 2026-10-09

The January 30, 2026 announcement confirms a home playoff game plus three destination playoff games in FY2025, and describes department-wide ticket, donation and media revenue.

Limit: Department-wide changes and a four-game playoff path cannot isolate the Tennessee game's cash or establish a venue advantage.

Atlantic Coast Conference primary source → · Source check recorded 2026-10-09

The March 2025 announcement adds annual football and men's basketball viewership incentives alongside success initiatives.

Limit: Does not publish the allocation formula, individual school receipts or a current CFP pass-through percentage.

Georgia Tech Athletics primary source → · Source check recorded 2026-10-09

The school reports a 9% increase in ACC distributions, linking growth largely to bowl qualification, final CFP ranking and football viewership.

Limit: July 2026 institutional announcement with financial reporting still to be finalized; no dollar allocation by incentive, event settlement or hosting profit is provided.

Athletic Business · citing The Columbus Dispatch secondary report → · Source check recorded 2026-10-09

September 2025 coverage reports $15 million in ticket revenue and $5.1 million in net revenue for Ohio State's December 2024 Tennessee game, citing records obtained by the Dispatch.

Limit: Underlying settlement not obtained here. Rounded reported net revenue is not a verified all-in profit, a current fee schedule or a matched neutral-site comparison.

Santa Clara Stadium Authority · The Pun Group primary source → · Source check recorded 2026-10-09

PDF page 3 reports a contractual CFP share of the venue concessionaire's food-and-beverage commission.

Limit: Historical neutral championship, not current campus terms. The March 31, 2023 procedures report expresses no audit opinion; exceptions and management's refused representation limit assurance.

Ohio State University primary source → · Source check recorded 2026-10-09

Printed page 8 reports postseason football receipts of $17,452,406 (category 19). Page 15 reports participation expenses of $11,871,668, coaching bonuses of $4,892,664 and hosting settlements of $2,223,252 (41, 41A, 41B).

Limit: Annual reporting categories, not an individual game's settlement or a complete playoff profit calculation.

Penn State University primary source → · Source check recorded 2026-10-09

Printed page 8 reports postseason football receipts of $5,349,583 (category 19). Page 15 reports participation expenses of $6,979,412, coaching bonuses of $4,096,838 and hosting settlements of $2,523,455 (41, 41A, 41B).

Limit: Annual reporting categories, not an individual game's settlement or a complete playoff profit calculation.

College Football Playoff primary source → · Earlier research cutoff 2026-10-08; no newer check recorded

First round December 18–19; quarterfinals December 30 and January 1; semifinals January 14–15; championship January 25.

Limit: The current schedule is a comparison baseline, not approval of the proposed calendar.

ESPN Press Room primary source → · Source check recorded 2026-10-09

ESPN announced worldwide CFP rights through 2031–32, including a right to sublicense selected games.

Limit: The announcement does not price an 18-team format or disclose its required contract amendments.

ESPN Press Room primary source → · Earlier research cutoff 2026-10-08; no newer check recorded

Reports audiences for all eleven games, including four first-round games and a 30.1-million championship audience.

Limit: Broadcaster-reported historical audiences; not a venue experiment, unique-person total, rights quote or forecast. Individual reach and average audience are different measures.

NFL Football Operations primary source → · Earlier research cutoff 2026-10-08; no newer check recorded

Lists Week 18 on January 9–10, 2027, and Wild Card Weekend on January 16–18.

Limit: A dated conflict reference. Annual schedules and actual kickoff overlaps must be rechecked before adoption.

Orange Bowl Committee primary source → · Source check recorded 2026-10-09

Operator-published Rockport Analytics estimates distinguish the January 1 quarterfinal from the January 19 championship and separate regional output from media exposure value.

Limit: A published impact estimate, not an event settlement or independent validation by this proposal. The underlying methods, public costs and counterfactual need review; exposure value is not cash revenue.

Tournament of Roses primary source → · Source check recorded 2026-10-09

Reports an estimated $245 million regional impact for the combined parade and game, based on an Enigma Research study.

Limit: The release combines two events. It does not isolate the game's profit or quantify what an earlier, separate bowl date would retain.

Tournament of Roses primary source → · Earlier research cutoff 2026-10-08; no newer check recorded

Identifies the game, parade, tradition, sponsors and broadcast partners as connected assets in a changing college-football landscape.

Limit: A strategic plan, not consent to the proposed dates, a contract amendment or a forecast of sponsor receipts.

College Football Playoff primary source → · Earlier research cutoff 2026-10-08; no newer check recorded

Historical precedent: the October 2016 announcement described $2,500 per athlete for eligible family travel to semifinals and the championship, for up to 125 families per institution.

Limit: Historical terms only, not a verified 2026 allowance, all-round entitlement or adequate budget for the proposed format. Current eligibility and benefit terms need confirmation.

College Football Playoff primary source → · Earlier research cutoff 2026-10-08; no newer check recorded

The current bracket contains eleven games: four campus first-round games, four bowl quarterfinals, two bowl semifinals and a neutral championship.

Limit: Game counts and venues do not establish revenue, school receipts or the value of the proposed format.

College Football Playoff primary source → · Source check recorded 2026-10-09

Published conference distributions and conference discretion over sharing; 2026–27 expense payments are stated while remaining distributions await finalization.

Limit: Does not establish any school's retained share or payments under the proposed 18-team format.

College Football Playoff primary source → · Earlier research cutoff 2026-10-08; no newer check recorded

The CFP is evaluating potential 24-team expansion through media-rights discussions with ESPN.

Limit: An evaluation does not establish an approved format, a rights price, or that revenue is the only motivation.

NCAA primary source → · Earlier research cutoff 2026-10-08; no newer check recorded

A common starting vocabulary for institutional athletics revenue, expense and capital reporting.

Limit: Annual institutional figures do not necessarily isolate a particular postseason game's net return; access to individual records varies.