'Handshake agreement' with ESPN brings college football closer to a 24-team playoff, AP source says

College football moved closer to a 24-team postseason after securing what a person familiar with the negotiations called a “handshake agreement” between the College Football Playoff and broadcast partner ESPN that would make up for the nine-figure sums the major conferences would lose by getting rid of their title games. The person told The Associated Press on Friday that the framework of the deal to expand starting next season had been reached but that many details and an official contract remained unfinished. The person requested anonymity because of the ongoing negotiations.ESPN, quoting its own unnamed sources, said its average additional payment to the CFP for the six years of the expanded playoff — which would include 12 more games than under the current 12-team format — would be $345 million a year.The current six-year deal that begins this year is worth $7.8 billion.The parties have been discussing a format in which the Power Four conference champs and the highest-ranked team f