EA Games once ruled the world of college sports video games. NCAA Basketball and NCAA Football were both beloved franchises that still boast active player bases today. However, NCAA Basketball was discontinued in 2009 due to a lawsuit by former college star Ed O’Bannon. Meanwhile, similar concerns brought an end to NCAA Football in 2013. The games have lived on through passionate fanbases and myriad content on sites such as YouTube and Twitch. Interest in NCAA Basketball spiked during the pandemic thanks to the work of SB Nation journalist Ricky O’Donnell. O’Donnell produced a series of season-by-season breakdowns of his journey trying to break the all-time record for NCAA titles using the worst team in the game, Western Illinois.
However, in 2021, EA announced that NCAA Football would be making a return with EA Sports College Football. Originally slated to release in 2023, the game was delayed to 2024. the return of the game was brought about by the impending implementation of NIL legislation that allowed college athletes to receive money from sponsorship deals and similar sources. Now, news that has broken about a vital part of the game development.
Real Players In “EA Sports College Football”
While mods have long existed to import real rosters into the NCAA Football games, the restrictions on using player likenesses meant that the games were also filled with fictional players. That may no longer be the case given an interview the developers granted to ESPN. EA is collaborating with NIL agency OneTeam Partners to facilitate the addition of real players and their likenesses to the upcoming game.
Payment and revenue structuring for players who want to appear in the game is still being finalized. However, but OneTeam told ESPN that payment would be “as inclusive and equitable as possible.” Furthermore, the company outlined on its website that “revenue will be divided equally among the athletes included in each licensing program” if individual sales couldn’t be agreed on. Players who do not opt-in will be replaced by a generic fictional player. At the time of writing, Tulane and Northwestern have both publicly opted in. Notre Dame has also been “in contact” about NIL implementation, but has not formally opted in or out.
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