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Afternoon Edition

November 17, 2025

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Momentum for a College Football Playoff expansion has certainly cooled down, but it turns out that the Dec. 1 deadline to decide on a 2026 format still has some wiggle room.

— David Rumsey [[link removed]] and Eric Fisher [[link removed]]

CFP Expansion Deadline Has Flexibility—If Leaders Ask ESPN [[link removed]]

Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

The College Football Playoff is exactly two weeks away from a Dec. 1 deadline [[link removed]], when it has to inform ESPN of any changes to its 2026 format, including expansion.

However, Front Office Sports has learned that there is potential wiggle room on that time frame—if the powers that be want it.

A source tells FOS that the CFP would need to ask ESPN to delay the deadline, and then ESPN would consider pushing it back. ESPN would not initiate that conversation, though, the source says.

Another source says there has been no discussion to this point about the CFP seeking an extension, though, as momentum for expanding beyond 12 teams has appeared to die down. If the CFP did ask for an extension, there is no guarantee ESPN would grant one.

Big Ten vs. SEC

Effectively, the expansion decision is in the hands of SEC commissioner Greg Sankey and Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti, who remain at odds [[link removed]] over what the format of an expanded CFP bracket would be. Sankey and the SEC favor more at-large spots selected by the CFP committee, while Petitti and the Big Ten are seeking more automatic qualifiers.

From 2026 onward, the SEC and Big Ten have the authority to make changes to the CFP format—and must agree on them together—according to a memorandum of understanding that the 10 FBS conferences signed in 2024.

On Saturday, Sankey said [[link removed]] expanding the CFP to 16 teams “should be a priority for all of us in conference leadership.”

A Big Ten spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment by FOS. ESPN and the CFP declined comment.

Game Theory

Expanding the CFP from 12 to 16 teams would create four new first-round game windows that ESPN would need to find broadcast slots for.

This season, ESPN will once again sublicense two first-round matchups [[link removed]] to TNT Sports—the 3:30 p.m. ET and 7:30 p.m. ET games on Dec. 20. ESPN and ABC will simulcast the primetime matchup on Dec. 19, and the noon ET game on Dec. 20.

After beating the CFP’s TV ratings last season [[link removed]], the NFL will once again provide competition Dec. 20 with a Week 16 Saturday doubleheader, Packers-Bears and Eagles-Commanders, which will air on Fox; game times have not been announced.

The 2026 CFP schedule is not set, but it’s expected to start on the same weekend in December. Adding more first-round CFP games would either mean airing multiple games in the same broadcast windows, going head-to-head with more NFL action on Thursday or Sunday, or moving games even earlier to Wednesday or Tuesday that week.

The 2026 season will mark the first of a six-year, $7.8 billion CFP media-rights extension [[link removed]] that ESPN signed in 2024.

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Sinclair-Scripps Deal Would Forge Another Sports Giant on Free TV [[link removed]]

Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

Yet another wave of consolidation is approaching the television station business, with more implications for sports media.

Sinclair Inc., owner of the Tennis Channel and 178 local stations, said Monday in a filing with the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission that it has acquired an 8.2% equity stake in fellow station owner E.W. Scripps Co. More substantively, Sinclair also said it is in active talks to acquire Scripps in full.

The two companies “have engaged in constructive discussions for several months regarding a potential combination,” Sinclair said in the SEC filing.

It is not certain when, or if, a full merger deal between Sinclair and Scripps will happen—though Sinclair said a deal closing could happen 9 to 12 months after reaching a definitive agreement. The ongoing talks, however, reflect the accelerating wave of consolidation happening in the station ownership business. Just three months ago, Nexstar Media Group struck a $6.2 billion deal to acquire Tegna Inc. [[link removed]], which is still undergoing a regulatory review.

The Nexstar-Tegna deal, if completed, will create a powerful entity with 265 stations in 44 states and the District of Columbia. A Sinclair-Scripps merger would follow along very similar lines and add the 60 stations in the Scripps portfolio to what Sinclair has.

Federal Communications Commission chairman Brendan Carr, appointed by U.S. President Donald Trump, has been open about his desire to loosen current restrictions that limit individual station owners reaching more than 39% of U.S. households, calling that cap “arcane” and “artificial.” That sentiment, however, has also generated pushback from activists decrying the reduced choice in local TV news voices.

Sinclair added that a deal with Scripps would “require no external financing as the combined company would maintain each company’s respective debt and preferred capital structures. … Recent industry consolidation and intensifying competition reinforce [our] view that further scale in the broadcast television industry is essential to address secular headwinds and compete effectively with large-scale big-tech and big-media players.”

Scripps stock surged nearly 40% in Monday on the Sinclair news, ending the day $4.28 per share, the company’s highest close in more than a year.

Sports Portfolio

Even as Main Street Sports, formerly Diamond Sports Group, is its own entity [[link removed]] and no longer in the Sinclair umbrella, sports would remain a core element of any pact with Scripps. The Ion network owned by Scripps reached a multiyear extension of its rights deal with the WNBA [[link removed]] this past June.

The Scripps sports portfolio, meanwhile, also includes rights to the NWSL [[link removed]], the Big Sky Conference, and local rights to a series of pro teams, including the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Panthers, the Golden Knights, the Mammoth, Lightning, and defending WNBA champion Aces. With these pacts, Scripps has been at the heart of a broader resurgence for sports in over-the-air television.

“We believe that bringing these games to linear television, putting them over the air, was going to be a great platform,” Scripps Sports president Brian Lawlor said last year at the Front Office Sports Tuned In summit [[link removed]]. “And it turned out our timing was right.”

Sinclair and Nexstar were also the two station groups that briefly pulled their distribution of Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show in the wake of comments regarding the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

Bears Are Stacking Up Wins on the Field While Stadium Plans Stalling [[link removed]]

Brad Rempel-Imagn Images

While the Bears are still trying to move forward off the field with their long-running stadium pursuit, the NFL team is making unexpectedly rapid progress on the field.

The Bears claimed a 19–17 walkoff win Sunday over the rival Vikings—the team’s seventh win in eight games after an 0–2 start. Chicago now leads the NFC North, arguably the league’s toughest division, by a half game over the Packers, and it’s the first time the Bears have been in that position this late in the season since 2018.

“This isn’t the same old Bears,” said Chicago safety Kevin Byard III. “This culture—we’ve been battle-tested. [We’re] never going to apologize for winning. But what I will say is that I don’t think as a team yet, we’ve discovered that killer instinct.”

A key part of the Bears’ accelerated ascendancy is their repeated ability to prevail in close games. Chicago is 3–0 in games decided by two points or fewer, and 5–1 in contests decided by five points or fewer. Additionally, the Bears have by far the NFL’s top turnover differential with a margin of plus-16.

Both games against the Packers are still on the Bears’ schedule, however. A Dec. 7 contest at Lambeau Field is currently slated for 1 p.m. ET, while a Sat., Dec. 20 rematch at Soldier Field currently doesn’t have a specified start time. Either game currently stands as a candidate for flexing into a primetime broadcast slot, given the rising playoff implications involved. A stacked back-end off the schedule for Chicago also includes other games with the Steelers, Eagles, 49ers, and Lions—all postseason contenders.

Building Matters

The competitive rebirth is happening as the Bears remain somewhat stalled on their plan to build a new domed stadium and mixed-use development on team-owned land in suburban Arlington Heights, Ill.

A revised plan now calls for the Bears to pay for the stadium costs themselves, but the team is still looking for $855 million in public-sector help [[link removed]] for related infrastructure. An Illinois fall legislative session, however, came and went without significant progress on that front, or any resolution on a push by the Bears to be able to negotiate their own local tax rates for the Arlington Heights property.

Franchise leaders have said that the overall stadium cost, already more than $5 billion, rises by more than $10 million per month without a final plan in place.

Among the still-outstanding issues [[link removed]] is the more than $534 million in remaining debt on a 2003 renovation of Soldier Field in downtown Chicago. Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker has said the team should pay that before any legislation related to the Arlington Heights project is considered.

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FRONT OFFICE SPORTS TODAY Caitlin Clark Gives LPGA an Assist

FOS illustration

YouTube TV and ESPN ended their two-week-plus standoff late Friday, just in time for a big slate of college football Saturday. FOS newsletter writer Eric Fisher joins to explain how the two sides reached an agreement and what ESPN’s new unlimited YouTube TV package will look like. Meanwhile, FOS Asset Class author Ben Horney joins to break down everything we know about the NBA’s ongoing gambling investigation and where Congress most recently stepped in.

Also, golf broadcaster and journalist Lauren Withrow talks about WNBA star Caitlin Clark’s big week on the LPGA Tour and how her involvement in The Annika for the second straight year encapsulates the unique nature of golf as a sport. She also discusses Kai Trump’s performance and looks ahead to next week’s CME Group Tour Championship, which will feature a $4 million winner’s check—tied for the largest single prize in women’s pro golf history.

Plus, Pistons guard Cade Cunningham gets a signature shoe with a big brand, Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner battle again on and off the tennis court, and the NFL’s Madrid game pulls a massive crowd.

Watch the full episode here. [[link removed]]

STATUS REPORT Three Up, One Push

Lee Smith-Reuters via Imagn Images

Norway ⬆ The country’s men’s national soccer team has qualified for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, making its first appearance at the tournament since 1998. It will mark the first World Cup showing for Erling Haaland, the 25-year-old Manchester City star who is widely considered one of the best players in the world.

Alternate broadcasts ⬆ NBC is bringing back its EA Sports Madden NFL Cast, which debuted last year [[link removed]] for a Chiefs-Texans game. Peacock will stream this year’s Madden-themed cast of Bengals-Ravens in prime time on Thanksgiving.

MLB betting disclosures ⬆⬇ Members of the U.S. Senate’s committee on commerce, science, and transportation are questioning Major League Baseball about last week’s federal indictments [[link removed]] of two Guardians pitchers. The league quickly responded to the indictments with a tight cap on pitch-level prop bets [[link removed]] in baseball, but lawmakers are questioning how Guardians pitcher Emmanuel Clase, in particular, was able to conduct a pitch-rigging scheme for more than two years before charges were brought. The committee is seeking its requested information and documents by Dec. 5.

MLB postseason viewership ⬆ Nielsen said Monday that the full postseason for Major League Baseball delivered 58.2 billion viewing minutes in the U.S., up 21% from the 2024 playoffs. The aggregate boost is not surprising given that every round of the postseason delivered audience increases domestically, peaking with a historic seven-game World Series [[link removed]] won by the Dodgers.

Conversation Starters The Anaheim Ducks will sell webbed duck feet clogs on Nov. 22. Check them out [[link removed]]. Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders gifted a new car [[link removed]] to a single mom in Cleveland whose vehicle had broken down. Florida State linebacker Ethan Pritchard was shot in the head in August. Upon his release from the hospital, he received an ovation from his family and hospital staff. Watch it here [[link removed]]. Editors’ Picks Women’s Pro Baseball League Will Play First Season in Springfield, Illinois [[link removed]]by Annie Costabile [[link removed]]The league will debut in August and expects to raise $3 million. Clippers Aging All-Star Experiment Is Off to a Rough Start [[link removed]]by Alex Schiffer [[link removed]]Los Angeles is 4–9 and 12th in the Western Conference. The VC Firm Whose Investors Include Jets, Pacers Ownership Groups [[link removed]]by Ben Horney [[link removed]]359 Capital is lifting the veil so consumers can see its investors. DAILY TRIVIA Factle Sports

Can you list the top five most valuable MLS franchises (as of 2025)?

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