The expanded College Football Playoff has made teams, conferences a lot more money

Making and advancing in the College Football Playoff has huge financial ramifications for the 12 teams that are selected and the conferences to which they belong. Individual teams each receive $3 million to cover expenses in each round of the playoff. Additionally, because Notre Dame doesn't belong to a conference, the school gets all the money whereas the conferences get the payout for the other teams.

Conferences receive $4 million for each team that gets into the College Football Playoff, $4 million for each team in the quarterfinals, $6 million for each team in the semifinals and $6 million for each team in the National Championship.

Every team that made the College Football Playoff semi-final has earned $14M in payouts for their conferences.

As an independent, Notre Dame's win over Georgia just put the Fighting Irish at $14M, too—all for themselves. pic.twitter.com/AzPAE1ZkFl
— Front Office Sports (@FOS) January 3, 2025

Notre Dame has made $14 million due to making the semifinal while the conferences for the other teams that made the playoff and advances have been raking in the dough. The Big Ten, who got four teams into the playoff and two teams to the semifinals, has received $40 million, by far the most money of any conference. The SEC is second at $26 million followed by Notre Dame, $14 million, and the ACC, Big 12 and Mountain West at $8 million.

The Big Ten could make up to $12 million more if both Ohio State and Penn State win their semifinal games this week. If Notre Dame beats Penn State they'll rake in $20 million for themselves due to not belonging to a conference. At the same time, not being in a conference has its disadvantages for the Irish: the highest seed they can receive is the fifth seed under this current format.

The College Football Playoff semifinals will be played on Jan. 9 and 10. Notre Dame-Penn State will be at the Orange Bowl and Ohio State-Texas at the Cotton Bowl. The winners will meet on Jan. 20 in the National Championship.