‘The College Football Playoff is making major moves, and not just with its format. The organization has just parted ways with a longtime media consultant, a shakeup that comes amid heated debates over expansion.

“Ari Fleischer, a longtime political strategist and media consultant, is no longer working with the College Football Playoff,” Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger wrote in a social media post on X, formerly Twitter. “For years, Fleischer has served in a media consultant role with the Playoff.”

Since the inception of the College Football Playoff after the 2014 regular season, the 66-year-old has been assisting the CFP with media, public relations, and expansion matters. Before he joined CFP, he was hired in a similar role in 2009 in the College Football Bowl Championship Series to help improve its image. The BCS was the antecedent of CFP but was soon criticized for its use of polls and computer rankings in selecting a national championship game, though Fleischer was an advocate.

“Playoff advocates have had an easy ride where they have never been called on to explain exactly how they would create an alternative. There is tremendous division among playoff advocates,” said Fleischer. “While the BCS has its share of critics, once people see both sides of the issue, they will see why the system has its great support.”

The major flaw of the BCS was its focus on a single matchup, which limited the competitiveness of the national championship. There was also a preference for fixtures among programs from major conferences at the expense of smaller programs and an exclusion of undefeated teams in its selection of the national championship contenders. When the transition to the CFP was to happen, Fleischer was tasked with communicating the details of the selection process.

At its inception, the CFP used a four-team playoff system, and Fleischer was instrumental in providing advisory support on communications and media handling before it evolved into the 12-team system it is today.

And beyond his dealings with CFP, he was the former White House Press Secretary for George W. Bush, serving for two years. Fleischer runs a sports communication firm, Ari Fleischer Communications, where he works as a media consultant and assists players, corporations, and sports organizations.

College Football Playoff expansion

The College Football Playoff has gone from featuring two teams to four and now to 12. Nevertheless, there have been discussions within the presidential media committee about expanding the CFP from 12 teams to a possible 16 or 24.

“The White House is supporting a 14-person presidential ‘media’ committee that is discussing the future of the College Football Playoff,” per Clutch Points. “While the members haven’t all been identified, there is some crossover. The presidential committee features commissioners of the Big 12, Big Ten, SEC, ACC, and American conferences. Notre Dame’s athletic director is also part of the committee.”

The involvement of the 14-member presidential committee is said to have risen after the government helped out with NIL deals. The committee includes commissioners of major conferences, Notre Dame’s athletic director, ESPN and Fox executives, business magnates, a political strategist, an adviser to the President, and a Texas billionaire, who is the committee chair.

One of the main motivations for the expansion is to increase revenue from the industry. And while the top programs will also benefit from this, the focus is on helping smaller schools improve financially.