r/CFB • u/duabrs • 8h ago

Discussion Total control of playoff for ESPN

Is this possible to end up in court as an antitrust / monopoly violation?

I like the expansion, but not the expanded power it'll give ESPN.

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4

u/Ok-Soil-5133 Notre Dame Fighting Irish 7h ago

No.

TV rights are open market. Other networks wouldn't pay up.

2

u/soulsides California Golden Bears 7h ago

Exactly. Anti-trust isn’t applicable here. A single network could carry every single NFL or NBA game if both the leagues and the networks agreed to such terms. It’s an open market, networks have the ability to bid against each other for game packages-including the playoffs-so where are the monopoly practices?

ESPN deserves shit for any number of reasons but they didn’t force the CFB decision makers to expand to a 24 team playoff. That’s on CFB teams and conferences.

1

u/duabrs 3h ago

Maybe, but their close ties to the SEC will forever taint this system. More teams will go independent, and should.

1

u/soulsides California Golden Bears 1h ago

Agreed but that’s not what OP was asking about