College Football Playoff will double in size to 24 teams starting next year

• Power Four conference title games to be eliminated

• Five teams will auto-qualify with rest picked by panel

The College Football Playoff will double in size to 24 teams beginning next year, bringing an end to a three-decade era of conference title games that used to be among the marquee events of the season.

College leaders announced the new format Monday, after ESPN agreed to rework its contract to add the 11 new games. Terms were not announced, though ESPN said it was a deal for five years and an additional $1.7bn, on top of the $7.8bn contract that runs through the 2031 season.