The College Football Playoff has reached a "handshake agreement" with ESPN to broadcast a 24-team playoff beginning in the 2027 season, sources told ESPN on Friday.

While there is still a significant amount of work to be done on paper, and everything is still subject to board approval across all involved parties, it's a significant step closer to doubling the postseason path to the national title for next year.

The CFP and ESPN have been negotiating a new deal for the network to be its continued broadcast partner, a seismic move that is also expected to eliminate the lucrative Power 4 conference championship games and start the season a week earlier.

While final details have yet to be announced, discussions about the 24-team field have included 19 at-large bids, the Power 4 conference champions as determined by each league, plus the highest-ranked Group of 6 team.

The New Year's Six bowls (Rose, Fiesta, Sugar, Peach, Orange, and Cotton) are expected to still host the quarterfinals and semifinals with the national championship game remaining in January. Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti, whose conference has been the driving force behind the 24-team model, has pushed back against the notion it will devalue the regular season because the system includes "tiered incentives."

Under the proposed plan, teams seeded No. 1-8 earn a first-round bye followed by a home game. (The No. 1 seed would face the winner of No. 16 vs. No. 17, and the No. 2 seed would face the winner of No. 15 vs. No. 18).

Teams hovering around No. 17 and No. 18 are trying to move up so they can host a first-round home game (awarded to teams seeded No. No. 9-16), while teams at the bottom are constantly trying to stay in the field or protect their spot.

The historic change to the sport's postseason is expected just two seasons after the field tripled from four to 12 teams. In March of 2024, ESPN and the CFP agreed to a six-year, $7.8 billion contract that ensured the network would remain the sole media rights holder of the event through the 2031-32 season. Multiple sources have said the current framework for the amended deal is through 2031, a five-year agreement that is the same duration of the existing deal.

On Sept. 9, ESPN and the CFP entered a 30-day negotiation window to determine what the value of a 24-team field would be. The window closed on Oct. 9, but discussions continued through this week.