The Rose Bowl presents an obstacle to the College Football Playoff expanding to 12 teams as early as 2024.
While the CFP field will magnify no later than 2026, the process can begin sooner if all entities involved in the current contract agree to changes. According to ESPN’s Heather Dinich, the Rose Bowl and CFP are negotiating the prestigious game’s place in a new format.
Laura Farber, head of the Rose Bowl Management Committee, told Dinich that the game wants to maintain its usual schedule for New Year’s Day at 2 p.m. PT when hosting a semifinal. She said they haven’t heard back from the CFP since last speaking two weeks ago.
“We’re very supportive of the College Football Playoff,” Farber said. “As the only New Year’s Six bowl with an independent contract, we’re working to navigate our existing agreement. While we’re willing to work through certain areas, we’ve maintained that an exclusive broadcast window on Jan. 1 at 2 p.m. PT is important to the Rose Bowl Game.”
Per Dinich, the other major bowls (Sugar, Orange, Cotton, Fiesta and Peach) have agreed not to ask for such concessions. Dinich reported “a sense of frustration” within the CFP that the Rose Bowl is “trying to dictate when the sport’s championship plays its games.”
Farber said the requested time slot is “not a big ask” in the grand scheme before highlighting the event’s rich lore.
“You start out with the Rose Parade, and on the same day you have the Rose Bowl Game to celebrate the start of the New Year,” she said. “It’s not only tradition, it’s part of the brand, and who we are, and what has been built since 1903.”
People from the CFP are also reportedly agitated that the Rose Bowl is potentially fighting for a “watered-down game” by not joining the expansion efforts. The proposed 12-team format would include the six best conference champions, meaning the Big Ten and Pac-12 winners wouldn’t be available for the Rose Bowl.
“The management committee is still considering whether we can expand in 2024 or 2025,” CFP executive director Bill Hancock told ESPN. “Everyone is trying to work it out so we can start early, but there are still some details that have to be ironed out.”