Joel Klatt Calls Out ESPN’s Relationship with the SEC

Joel Klatt doesn’t think ESPN having exclusive control of the College Football Playoff is good for the sport. He said as much on a recent broadcast, and if you’ve been around this game as long as he has, you can hear exactly where he’s coming from.

Klatt was blunt about it. He said the network “chose the wrong path when it comes to the presentation of this playoff.” That’s a pretty direct way of saying he doesn’t believe one channel running the whole thing is in the best interest of college football. He didn’t mince words or dance around the issue.

The core of his argument revolves around something simple: variety and visibility. Klatt pointed out that college football is one of the few major sports where the postseason is increasingly presented by a single TV partner, with a single broadcast voice and a single approach. That might make things easier for advertisers or for the companies writing the checks, but Klatt’s point is that it doesn’t do many favors for the sport itself. He said the playoff shouldn’t be tied exclusively to one television partner, especially at a stage when every game is a showcase event with huge stakes.

He took it a step further by saying that if all the major networks were involved and each one brought its own A‑level broadcast team and presentation, the sport as a whole would benefit. He was clear that this isn’t just about raw dollars. It’s about how games are presented, how audiences connect with the matchups, and how college football grows when more than one set of voices and camera crews get a crack at telling the story.

Klatt also pointed to the reality of ESPN’s ties. He mentioned that one of the biggest networks has a “deep relationship with just one conference within college football.” Everyone following the sport knows what he’s alluding to there. ESPN has a long track record with the SEC, and that relationship can bleed into how games are marketed or covered. Klatt’s beef isn’t about loyalty or money. It’s about fairness in coverage and why it matters when the biggest games of the season are on the line.

At a time when the playoff system is still relatively new and still finding its place in the broader landscape of sports, having that conversation matters. Klatt just said it out loud, in a way that many people have been thinking.