College Football on TNT Sports

History

Early coverage

In 1982, SuperStation WTBS reached a special "supplemental" television contract with the NCAA—who controlled all college football television rights at the time—to carry a package of live games on cable. TBS became the first cable network to nationally televise college football games. They aired a package of live Division I-AA games on Thursday nights and Division I-A games on Saturdays.

WTBS was only able to show teams that had not been on national television in 1981. There were a maximum of four teams that had been on regional television on two occasions. Meanwhile, ABC and CBS had the right to take away a game from WTBS as long as it did so no later than the Monday before the game. Bob Neal and Tim Foley were the booth commentators for WTBS during this period. Meanwhile, Craig Sager, Paul Hornung and Pepper Rodgers anchored the pregame show for WTBS.

In 1984, the Supreme Court ruled in NCAA v. Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma that the NCAA's television rights model for college football violated the Sherman Antitrust Act, thus allowing individual schools to sell the television rights to their home games. In June 1984, WTBS sports director Terry Hanson stated that they planned to compete for the national television rights being offered by the College Football Association (CFA)—a consortium of major conferences—and would challenge any attempt to impose regional blackouts. He told the press, "Every organization takes the personality of its leader. So we are obnoxiously aggressive." WTBS would acquire a package of games from the Southeastern Conference (SEC).

TBS dropped regular season college football after the 1992 season, but acquired rights to the Gator Bowl from 1991 to 1995 (after which the game moved to NBC), and the Carquest Bowl under an agreement with its owner Raycom Sports (a deal that would be later renewed through 2000).

2002–2006: Big 12 and Pac-10 sub-license

In 2002, Turner Sports reached a five-year sub-licensing agreement with Fox Sports Net (FSN), under which it would broadcast a package of games from the Big 12 and Pac-10 conferences. By then, TBS's pre-game show was branded as Big PlayStation Saturday as part of a sponsorship with Sony Computer Entertainment. The agreement ended after the 2006 season, after which the package moved to Versus for 2007.

2024–2028: College Football Playoff, Mountain West, Big 12

On May 22, 2024, ESPN announced that it had sub-licensed a portion of the College Football Playoff broadcast rights to TNT Sports from the 2024 season—the first to feature a new 12-team tournament format—through 2028. Under the agreement, TNT Sports broadcasts two CFP first round games annually beginning in the 2024 season, and will broadcast two of the New Year's Six bowls hosting the CFP quarterfinals beginning in the 2026 season. On June 6, 2025, it was reported that the agreement had been extended to also include one of the CFP semifinal games beginning in the 2026 season.

In the 2024 season, the CFP telecasts were produced by ESPN as part of its college football coverage, and used its on-air talent. The games are simulcast on TNT, TBS, TruTV, and streaming on Max. John Ourand reported that ESPN would also keep all advertising revenue from the telecasts for at least the first two years of the agreement; he suspected that the agreement was intended as leverage in carriage negotiations for TNT amid the end of its long-running broadcast agreement with the NBA, and to bolster Venu Sports—a then-upcoming sports streaming service that was to include ESPN and TNT Sports as partners.

On July 1, 2024, TNT Sports also announced an agreement with the Mountain West Conference, under which it will carry a package of 14 games on TruTV and streaming on Max. Ahead of the season, TNT Sports hired former players Champ Bailey, Takeo Spikes, and Victor Cruz to serve as studio panelists, joined by NBA on TNT Tuesday host Adam Lefkoe. Despite being announced as a multi-year deal, the agreement did not continue after the 2024 season.

On November 16, 2024, as part of a settlement tied to a legal dispute with the NBA over its next round of media rights, it was reported that ESPN had agreed to sublicense a package of Big 12 football and basketball games to TNT Sports beginning in the 2025 season. TNT Sports' vice president of technology and operations Chris Brown explained that the 2024 season had "helped bring us up to speed on how networks are covering college football", and that lessons from the Mountain West coverage had been used to help retool and enhance its production for the 2025 season.

Commentators

Current

Play-by-play

• J.B. Long, #2 play-by-play commentator (2024), lead play-by-play (2025–present)
• Joe Tessitore, College Football Playoff play-by-play
• Bob Wischusen, College Football Playoff play-by-play

Color commentators

• Mike Golic, Jr., #2 color commentator (2024), lead color commentator (2025–present)
• Jesse Palmer, College Football Playoff color commentator
• Louis Riddick, College Football Playoff color commentator

Sideline reporters

• Allie LaForce, co-lead reporter (2025–present)
• Coy Wire, co-lead reporter (2025–present)
• Jared Greenberg, fill–in reporter (2024–present)
• Lauren Jbara, fill–in reporter (2024–present)
• Katie George, College Football Playoff reporter
• Quint Kessenich, College Football Playoff reporter
• Kris Budden, College Football Playoff reporter
• Stormy Buonantony, College Football Playoff reporter

Rules analysts

• Matt Austin, College Football Playoff rules analyst

Studio hosts

• Adam Lefkoe, lead studio host (2024–present)
• Coy Wire, fill-in studio host (2025-present)
• Liam McHugh, fill-in studio host (2025-present)
• Kevin Negandhi, College Football Playoff studio host

Studio analysts

• Champ Bailey, lead studio analyst (2024–present)
• Takeo Spikes, lead studio analyst (2024–present)
• Victor Cruz, lead studio analyst (2024–present)
• Booger McFarland, College Football Playoff studio analyst

Former

Play-by-play

• Bob Neal (1982–1991, 1996–1997, 2004–2005)
• Lindsey Nelson (1985)
• Pete van Wieren (1985–1986)
• Mel Proctor (1986)
• Skip Caray (1986)
• Gary Bender (1992–1994)
• Verne Lundquist (1995)
• Kevin Harlan (1998–2000)
• Ron Thulin (2002–2006)
• Chip Caray (2006)
• Ari Wolfe (2024)
• Mark Jones, College Football Playoff play-by-play (2024)
• Dave Pasch, College Football Playoff play-by-play (2024)

Color commentators

• Tim Foley (1982–1991)
• Paul Hornung (1985–1986)
• Ron Kramer (1985–1986)
• Archie Griffin (1986)
• Pat Haden (1992–1995)
• Mark May (1996–1998)
• Trev Alberts (1999)
• Sam Wyche (1999)
• Dave Rowe (2000)
• Charles Davis (2002–2006)
• Tom Ramsey (2004–2006)
• Darius Walker (2024)
• Roddy Jones, College Football Playoff color commentator (2024)
• Dusty Dvoracek, College Football Playoff color commentator (2024)

Sideline reporters

• Craig Sager (1989–1994, 1996–2000, 2002–2006)
• Kevin Kiley (1995)
• Erin Andrews (2002–2003)
• Darren Eliot (2004)
• Kip Lewis (2005)
• David Aldridge (2006)
• Nabil Karim (2024)
• Bridget Howard (2024)
• Tom Luginbill, College Football Playoff sideline reporter (2024)
• Taylor McGregor, College Football Playoff sideline reporter (2024)
• Laura Rutledge, College Football Playoff sideline reporter (2024)

Rules analysts

• Bill LeMonnier, College Football Playoff rules analyst (2024)

Studio hosts

• Kevin Christopher
• Marc Fein
• Ernie Johnson, Jr.
• Craig Sager

Studio analysts

• Brian Bosworth
• Paul Hornung
• Pepper Rodgers

Notes

References

References

1. (January 28, 1982). "Turner Cable TV Gets N.C.A.A. Football Pact". [[The New York Times]].
2. (May 22, 2024). "College Football Playoff to feature select games on TNT Sports in sublicense deal with ESPN through 2028". [[CBS Sports]].
3. [https://web.archive.org/web/20121025185837/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1119136/index.htm Next month the College Football Association (CFA) will award its Saturday night cable TV rights for '85. "We're going to take a serious swing at it," says Turner. Last year ESPN paid $9.3 million for the CFA. This year, only Turner may know where the bidding will stop. ESPN has to be uneasy. Says its president, Bill Grimes, "Turner was our competitor last time, on the USFL. Since we edged him out for it, I'm sure he'll be more motivated than last time."]
4. [https://archive.today/20121203012714/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1122707/index.htm And oh, yes, there's a third winner of sorts, Paul Hornung, co-host of the Saturday studio show on WTBS, the Turner superstation (see box). When the NCAA controlled TV, it kept Hornung off college games because of his NFL suspension for gambling and his closer identification with the pro game.]
5. [https://web.archive.org/web/20121025185821/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1126263/2/index.htm OUR FIRST ANNUAL SHAME-ON-YOU AWARD—To WTBS-TV, Ted Turner's superstation, for allowing the NCAA to have veto power over its football announcers. TBS had to get rid of Pepper Rodgers and Paul Hornung when the censors from Shawnee Mission, Kans., found them unsavory.]
6. (2023-12-27). "Turner Plans to Make a Bid For College Football Package". Washington Post.
7. Taaffe, William. (2012-10-25). "A Supremely Unsettling Smorgasbord".
8. Online, Pilot. (1991-11-13). "VIRGINIA WAITING ON GATOR BOWL".
9. (2011-12-24). "Remembering the Fog Bowl".
10. (1998-05-08). "NBC SAYS IT RENEWS GATOR BOWL, BUT DOES THE BOWL KNOW THAT?".
11. Stewart, Larry. (1995-12-29). "Jackson Has Lost None of His Edge, on Course or Behind Microphone".
12. (1997-11-11). "MEDIA NOTES".
13. (2002-02-04). "Fox hands off some grid games to TBS".
14. (2003-08-27). "College Football Great Brian Bosworth Joins TBS Superstation's Big PlayStation Saturday Studio Show".
15. Ourand, John. (2007-06-06). "Versus Sublicenses Ten College Football Games".
16. (May 22, 2024). "College Football Playoff to feature select games on TNT Sports in sublicense deal with ESPN through 2028". [[CBS Sports]].
17. (2024-05-22). "TNT Sports to air select CFP games through sublicense with ESPN".
18. Bucholtz, Andrew. (2025-06-06). "TNT Sports to add a CFP semifinal game for at least three years under license from ESPN".
19. (2024-12-20). "Announcers for SMU vs. Penn State in the first round of the College Football Playoff on TNT".
20. "NFL, CFP Go Head-to-Head".
21. Ourand, John. "Is There Life After the NBA?".
22. Staff, S. V. G.. (2024-07-02). "TNT Sports and Mountain West Reach Multi-Year College Football Agreement Beginning This Season".
23. Bucholtz, Andrew. (2024-08-21). "Champ Bailey, Takeo Spikes, and Victor Cruz join TNT Sports for Mountain West football coverage".
24. Huddleston, Ben. (May 30, 2025). "News: March Madness, softball, CW, and more".
25. Steinberg, Brian. (November 16, 2024). "Warner Bros. Discovery, NBA Settle Legal Fight Over TV Rights".
26. Hernández, Kristian. "College Football Kickoff 2025: TNT Sports Launches First Big 12 Campaign With Onsite Crews, NEP ND6, 16 Cameras".
27. (August 13, 2025). "TNT Sports Announces Commentator Teams for Inaugural Big 12 Football Season".
28. "Thulin will begin his third-consecutive year as the play-by-play announcer for TBS' 2004-05 college football coverage.".
29. (August 21, 2024). "TNT Sports Announces Commentator Lineup – Including Host Adam Lefkoe & Studio Analysts Champ Bailey, Takeo Spikes & Victor Cruz – Ahead of Inaugural Season of Mountain West Football Coverage".
30. Brooks, Amanda. (December 8, 2024). "Commentator Teams Announced for Inaugural 12-Team College Football Playoff on ESPN, ABC and TNT Sports".
31. [http://www.tbs.com/stories/story/0,,34819,00.html Davis will serve as the analyst for TBS' college football coverage of the Pac-10 and Big 12 for the third consecutive year.] {{webarchive. link. (2012-02-23)
32. [http://www.tbs.com/stories/story/0,,34822,00.html For the third consecutive year, he will also report from the sideline for TBS' Pac-10/Big 12 college football coverage.]{{webarchive. link. (2008-12-04)
33. [http://www.big12sports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=10410&ATCLID=1518967 Erin Andrews returns to provide atmosphere pieces from the site that showcase the tradition and pageantry of these two great conferences.]
34. [http://www.lex18.com/news/kevin-christopher-lex-18-news-anchor/ Following a successful seven-year career in New York as a stage actor, television commercial and voice-over artist, Kevin Christopher switched career gears and signed on as the Sports Anchor for Turner Broadcasting's TBS Evening News in the spring of 1980. For the next seven years he was the main studio anchor for Atlanta Braves baseball, Atlanta Hawks basketball, NBA basketball, SEC College football and the Sunday night Coors Sports Page highlight show, as well as a contributor to CNN and Headline News.] {{webarchive. link. (2010-03-11)
35. [http://www.tbs.com/stories/story/0,,83966,00.html Marc Fein will serve as studio host for TBS’s coverage of Big 12 and PAC-10 college football in 2006. He previously handled sideline reporting duties for the networks’ college football coverage in 2004.] {{webarchive. link. (2011-09-28)
36. [http://www.tbs.com/stories/story/0,,34821,00.html He also hosted college football games on TBS Superstation for the 2002-03 season, dubbed Big Play Saturday.] {{webarchive. link. (2012-02-23)
37. [http://www.tbs.com/stories/story/0,,34822,00.html He was a sports anchor for CNN while also serving TBS Sports as the anchor of College Football Scoreboard for four years (1982-85).] {{webarchive. link. (2008-12-04)
38. [http://www.big12sports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=10410&ATCLID=1518967 Turner Sports announced today that legendary Oklahoma Sooners linebacker Brian Bosworth will join TBS Superstation's Big PlayStation Saturday this season as a studio analyst for its pre-game, post-game and halftime shows.]