Why is the 2025 CFP National Championship on ESPN and not on ABC? Online streaming options for college football's final game

The 2025 National Championship Game is being played between the Ohio State Buckeyes and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish tonight. However, fans are wondering why the game is being broadcast on ESPN exclusively rather than on ABC, where it would likely get a larger audience.

Let's take a deeper dive into the reasoning as to why this decision was made and explain what is going on in world news that may have cemented their decision.

Why is the 2025 CFP National Championship Game on ESPN and not on ABC?

The 2025 National Championship Game is on ESPN due to the exclusive rights agreement for the College Football Playoff. ESPN is currently in a six-year, $7.8 billion contract as the sole media rights holder for the College Football Playoff.

This is the first year of the new agreement that will last through the 2031-2032 college football season. While ABC and ESPN are both owned by Disney, there is another event that happened today that could also play a factor in what is being broadcasted.

January 20 is inauguration day for the United States and this year saw Donald Trump officially become the newest president of the United States. With the world news being focused on that, ABC would be interested in broadcasting around that rather than college football.

How to watch CFP National Championship Game

If you are ready to watch the 2025 National Championship Game, there are a few different ways to do so. The simplest way is to check if your cable provider has ESPN as an option and watch the game in that way.

There are other ways to watch this game as well with Disney+, Hulu + Live Sports, Fubo, Sling TV, and YouTube TV all being streaming services that provide ESPN as a channel. The Disney Bundle that has Hulu and Disney+ will also have the game available for consumption.

This is the first year that the game will be available in 4K. The game itself will have a multitude of channels dedicated to broadcasting the game, which are listed below.

• Main Telecast: ESPN
• Field Pass with Pat McAfee: ESPN2
• Command Center: ESPNU
• Skycast: ESPNews
• Spanish Broadcast: ESPN Deportes
• All-22: ESPN Streaming Live