EA offer $600 to college athletes to license their likeness in new game

EA Sports is set to offer college athletes $600 for their name, image, and likeness (NIL) for the upcoming release of EA College Football 25.

The deal, reported via ESPN, will allow the sports gaming giant to feature these 11,000 prospective players in the new game for the sum — and a free copy of the game.

ESPN’s Michael Rothstein commented that “athletes would remain in the game for their entire careers but could opt out of future editions if they choose. Athletes who remain in the game for multiple years will be paid annually, and players who transfer will continue to be compensated as long as they are on a roster.”

No doubt some players will be thrilled about this offer, but due to some college stars earning a lot more in sponsorship, EA might have to dig a little deeper to sign bigger prospective names for the title. There is no cover star for the title thus far, unlike previous iterations of the NCAA series.

On October 29, 2019, the NCAA’s board of governors voted to institute new rules allowing student-athletes to profit from using their NIL.

NIL has been a core part of college football since this landmark ruling, allowing players to sign deals and sponsorships as their young career progresses.

The last title in this series was NCAA Football 14, but the stoppage in the title lifecycle was down to a lawsuit involving the NIL of a rumored 300,000 college athletes.

Due to a lengthy court battle, the series has not been seen, save a few college football teams appearing in EA’s Madden titles until now.

EA would announce plans for another college football title in 2021 after agreeing on a deal with the NIL representation association, the Collegiate Licensing Company. Still, it would take several years to get to the recent teaser trailer:

Details of the game have emerged, and NIL will make a feature, hence EA’s surge to get as many players as possible signed up before launch.

Two modes, Dynasty and Road to Glory, have been mentioned. Dynasty sees the player take over a collegiate program, and the Road to Glory is the standalone path a player takes to, well, glory…

Daryl Holt, EA Sports senior vice president and group general manager of EA Tiburon, said to ESPN, “If you think about representing what’s happening in the sport when we talk about things like Dynasty and Road to Glory, there are new ways to recruit, there are transfer portals, there’s NIL, there’s a lot of things to think about.”

”That has really added to the complexity and the intrigue of the sport that we want to make sure is there for our players,” he concluded, bringing the reality of the college path to the consumer.

ESPN’s Chris Fowler is synonymous with college football, and he confirmed via X that his voice would be part of the broadcast team for the game:

I'm in the Game! Today, I can finally make it official. I am honored to be one of the voices in #CFB25 ! Wait until you see this game! #EAPartner https://t.co/mdLRo77QZR

— Chris Fowler (@cbfowler) February 22, 2024

EA has said more information will be released in the coming months, but time will tell if we see all college athletes represented for a copy and some cash.

Image credit: Lucas Andrade; Unsplash

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