Sources: CFP leaders trigger 30-day negotiating window with ESPN, furthering consideration for playoff expansion

The road to an expanded playoff is on the cusp of reaching its next milestone.

College Football Playoff leaders have decided to trigger a mandatory 30-day negotiating window with ESPN as they pursue the value of expansion options, sources tell Yahoo Sports.

The move, if it happens, is not necessarily a commitment to expand. However, the decision signals a strong interest in exploring the worth of a 24-team playoff field, the most-discussed option that has garnered support within the room of playoff officials.

The decision would follow what seems to be growing momentum from the SEC and commissioner Greg Sankey in a larger playoff format. Sankey distributed a memo to CFP Management Committee members about a week ago outlining considerations if he were to agree to a 24-team field.

One of the considerations is requiring teams to play 10 "qualifying events" to be eligible for the CFP. Qualifying events consist of (1) conference games; (2) games against Notre Dame; and (3) games against power conference teams — a concept that would require teams to play 10 power league games, at minimum.

Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti has expressed openness to the scheduling concept, which would alter the Big Ten's existing scheduling philosophy. The Big Ten remains the only power league that does not require its schools to play a non-conference game against a power conference team.

The negotiating window, a concept within ESPN's six-year contract as the playoff's media partner, is required before playoff executives open bidding to the market. Network officials have 30 days to make their best offer, which playoff leaders can either accept, or reject and move to the open market.

The CFP Management Committee — the 10 FBS conference commissioners and Notre Dame's athletic director — met on a call last week to further discuss the matter, as On3 reported last week . A second call Tuesday moved executives more toward triggering the window.

Triggering the negotiating window would give playoff officials flexibility to meet the Dec. 1 deadline — a contractual date in which leaders must decide if the current 12-team field will expand in time for next year's playoff.

Already, the networks have pushed back a deadline for the conferences to notify them that leagues are eliminating their conference championship games — a necessary move in any 24-team expanded bracket. That deadline is also expected to align with the CFP expansion date of Dec. 1.

For months now, CFP leaders have been embroiled in negotiations over expanding upon the 12-team field. The SEC and Big Ten hold authority over any format change, which means the two conferences must agree on a format for it to move forward.

The SEC has been entrenched in a 16-team format while the Big Ten has supported a 24-team field. For at least 18 months now, the industry's titans and their commissioners, Greg Sankey (SEC) and Tony Petitti (Big Ten), have supported different concepts.

In January, Petitti opposed a move to 16 teams during CFP meetings ahead of the national championship game in Miami, halting any expansion despite all other management committee members being aligned behind the model. A few months later, Sankey found himself in the minority during meetings this spring, as commissioners of the ACC and Big 12 and Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua threw their support behind a 24-team model of all at-large selections (aside from one Group of Six automatic bid).

While Sankey and some of his presidents have expressed reservations and concerns over a 24-team field, many of the SEC's coaches and athletic directors publicly, and certainly privately, support such a model. There are signs that the SEC is moving closer to more formal support of a larger field.

However, Sankey believes the SEC must recuperate the revenue lost from eliminating the league's title game — a figure believed to be around $100 million.

At the center of the expansion discussion is, indeed, money. A 16-team playoff generates very little additional revenue as ESPN controls the rights for an increase up to 14 teams. That means limited new inventory is available to an open market of broadcast companies.

A 24-team playoff not only doubles the field and creates 12 new games. However, the move must come with a significant increase in revenue — at least $250 million, CFP leaders privately say — to compensate for the cancellation of the four conference championship games. The distribution of any additional revenue stands to brew into a contentious negotiation among conferences.

Another issue in an expansion to 24 is the Army-Navy game, traditionally played on the second Saturday of December. In the most discussed 24-team model, Army-Navy would move to the Saturday currently occupied by the conference title games. A 24-team playoff's first round — eight games — would not start until the second weekend of December.