Report: Concept of CFB Super League with 70 teams presented to ADs; Would put $9 billion into sports | News, results, highlights, statistics and rumors

As college football tries to bridge the growing financial gap between the top conferences and everyone else, one group is trying to get the country's biggest programs to break into their own league.

According to Ross Dellenger of Yahoo Sports, a group led by former Disney executives turned investment professionals has proposed a 70-team super league from schools in the four power conferences that would inject up to $9 billion in private capital into the sport would let.

Dellenger noted that athletic directors from more than 25 power conference programs have seen the presentation, titled “Project Rudy,” so far.

Dellenger previously reported on Sept. 26 that Big Ten and SEC executives were preparing for a “historic” meeting in Nashville, Tennessee, with a variety of topics on the agenda, including the future of the playoff format and a regular one Season planning agreement for the off-season.

Dellenger's report on Tuesday said the meeting was scheduled to take place on Wednesday and Thursday, with Project Rudy considered an “unreported undercurrent driving discussion” between the two key conferences.

Miami athletic director Dan Radakovich, who also saw the presentation, told Dellenger he believes Project Rudy appears to be an effective model.

“Of all the ideas I’ve seen, this one makes the most sense,” Radakovich said. “Conferences remain, commissioners still play an important and valuable role, and schools have the opportunity to make more money with bigger meets and more playoff games.”

The main concepts of the project, according to Dellenger, would be to allow more games between power conference teams by eliminating all games against Group of Five and FCS opponents, while also expanding the playoff field and traditional powerhouse teams. Programs compete against each other more often.

Additionally, the media rights contracts for the 70 schools would be consolidated into a single agreement, as opposed to the current structure in which each conference and Notre Dame have their own contract.

Under the current model, the Big Ten earns $1.15 billion annually from its television contracts with Fox, CBS, NBC and the Big Ten Network; The SEC makes $740 million annually through its deal with ESPN/ABC.

For comparison, the Big 12, ACC and Pac-12 combined will make $710 million this season. That number will increase by $160 million when the Big 12's new contract begins with the 2025-26 season.

It's not even clear what the future of the Pac-12 will look like. Oregon State and Washington State are the only current members. Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, Utah State and San Diego State will join the conference in 2026, but their media rights contract expires after this season with no future agreement in place.

According to Dellenger, the presentation notes that the proposed changes “will result in an increase in media and sponsorship revenues of approximately $15 billion over a 12-year period,” with $5.3 billion upfront private capital can be borrowed from future media revenues.

The revenue would not be divided equally among all teams, but would be divided into three different tiers, ranging from $130 million per school in the fourth year, to $250 million in the 12th year for the top earners, up to $60-110 million. Dollars for teams in the second tier range $30-60 million for teams in the third tier.

There are various proposals for determining the rankings, including using previous season results or an aggregate model over a period of several years. It would also include a relegation and promotion system, although there is a model that “proposes eight 'permanent' members of Tier 1, a move presumably intended to appease the sport's biggest brands.”

There is no possible timeline for implementation of this system if all necessary parties agreed upon it. Dellenger noted that Congress needs to intervene because the proposed models would not be able to consolidate all media rights agreements without amending the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961.

An SEC school executive told Dellenger that the system would go into effect “at some point.”