College Football Playoff Payouts: 2014-2020
By Kristi Dosh
Last Updated on August 5, 2021
The first six years of the College Football Playoff saw it distribute $2.7 billion to FBS conferences and independents. As was the tradition under the Bowl Championship Series, FCS conferences receive annual fixed payouts as well.
The majority of College Football Playoff revenue distributed is allocated as fixed fees that are not dependent on performance or berths in the semifinals, contract bowls or access bowls. Check out my 2020-21 conference-by-conference breakdown for an example.
College Football Playoff Payouts from 2014-2020 by Conference
Here are the totals by conference for the first six years of the College Football Playoff (from the 2014-15 season to 2019-20):
| CONFERENCE | TOTAL |
| Southeastern Conference | $452,329,310 |
| Atlantic Coast Conference | $415,026,040 |
| Big Ten Conference | $414,478,180 |
| Big 12 Conference | $410,816,228 |
| Pac-12 Conference | $406,003,943 |
| American Athletic Conference | $138,376,487 |
| Mountain West Conference | $116,587,690 |
| Mid-American Conference | $99,547,896 |
| Conference USA | $92,863,191 |
| Sun Belt Conference | $91,812,887 |
| Notre Dame University | $31,300,962 |
| Brigham Young University | $1,859,785 |
| U.S. Military Academy | $1,859,785 |
| Big Sky Conference | $1,598,581 |
| Big South Conference | $1,598,581 |
| Colonial Conference | $1,598,581 |
| Mid-Eastern Conference | $1,598,581 |
| Missouri Valley Conference | $1,598,581 |
| Ohio Valley Conference | $1,598,581 |
| Southern Conference | $1,598,581 |
| Southland Conference | $1,598,581 |
| Southwestern Conference | $1,598,581 |
| University of Massachusetts | $1,242,845 |
| Patriot League | $536,965 |
| Liberty University | $310,396 |
| New Mexico State University | $310,396 |
| U.S. Naval Academy | $307,544 |
| TOTAL | $2,689,957,756 |
Although the majority of the payouts each year are predetermined regardless of performance (see last year’s payout plan), schools who make the semifinals receive $6 million each and schools selected for access bowls receive $4 million each. The only additional monies for playing in the title game are for expenses. Accordingly, those with the most appearances have the edge when it comes to total payouts over the years.
Appearances in the College Football Playoff Semifinals by conference 2014-2020:
| SEC | 7 |
| ACC | 6 |
| Big Ten | 4 |
| Big 12 | 4 |
| Pac-12 | 2 |
| Notre Dame | 1 |
Annual College Football Playoff Payouts by Conference
You can see conference-by-conference breakdowns of actual payouts for each year here:
2020-21 College Football Playoff Payouts
2019-20 College Football Playoff Payouts
2018-19 College Football Playoff Payouts
2017-18 College Football Playoff Payouts
2016-17 College Football Playoff Payouts
2015-16 College Football Playoff Payouts
2014-15 College Football Playoff Payouts
