Why ESPN's College Football Playoff broadcasts are only on TNT and Max

If you’re looking for Saturday’s College Football games on TV and streaming, you’re probably pretty stunned to see TNT, TBS and Max airing first round contests including SMU-Penn State and Clemson-Texas.

You’re probably even more confused flipping on those channel to see what looks like an ESPN broadcast.

Well, here’s the deal: Back in May, TNT reached a five year agreement to sublicense select College Football Playoff from ESPN. Which means while ESPN is producing the broadcasts, TNT gets to actually air them.

Here’s how it works, per the College Football Playoff:

TNT Sports will present two first-round College Football Playoff games during the 2024 and 2025 seasons. In addition to the first-round games, TNT Sports will add two quarterfinal games each year –beginning with the 2026 season through the 2028 season. TNT will be the primary network televising the sublicensed CFP games, among additional TNT Sports distribution platforms.

ESPN will present all other College Football Playoff games on its networks including the annual CFP National Championship Game. ESPN will also continue to manage the sponsorship program for the presentation of the CFP.

It kind of makes sense considering ESPN has plenty of other commitments this time of year, including college basketball, NBA games and NFL games. There’s only so many channels that allow it to reach a national audience. So TNT was all too glad to step in.

Hopefully that clears things up!