ALJAZEERA: …Starting in 2014-15, the postseason will consist of bowl games and the new lucrative playoff — two national semifinal games and a national championship game. The major conferences will be paid by TV broadcasters and will then cut checks to their member schools…
The commissioners of the 10 conferences that play Division I football have signed television contracts that will push the value of the college football postseason to $5.5 billion over 12 years, with the five major conferences — the SEC, Big 12, ACC, Big Ten and Pac-12 — expected to receive the bulk of TV revenue…
“We made the proposal that this new revenue should go to support academics, and what the conferences agreed to is a pittance,” Kirwan said, noting that there is supposed to be $500 million in additional annual revenue from the deal. “We wanted all the new revenue from the playoff, which is on top of the existing contracts, to go back to academics.” … (more)
