EA Sports has announced that its collegiate title, EA Sports College Football, will pay players for lend their likenesses to the game if they opt-in to do so.
According to a report from ESPN, the publisher is collaborating with OneTeam Partners, a firm that also works with the NFL and MLS Players Associations, to “facilitate collegiate athletes’ names and likenesses” into the game, which is set to debut next summer. The offer is extended to all eligible players within the Division 1 Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS).
Players who agree to have their name, image, and likeness (NIL) featured in EA Sports College Football will receive compensation for it. Once they opt-in, they may receive a face scan of their likeness to be placed in the game. However, not every college football player will receive a face scan due to the fact that 120 FBS college teams nationwide have opted into the game, bringing thousands of their players into it.
If any player does not want their NIL featured in the game, EA Sports will create a generic avatar and player in their place.
EA Sports College Football comes out NEXT SUMMER, FBS players can opt in to have their names/likeness in the game and GET PAID FOR IT, per @mikerothstein I remember being a White QB with dreads from Montana with no arm sleeve one year and Hawaiian the next. Those days are gone. pic.twitter.com/LkZ2sLHpZf
— Robert Griffin III (@RGIII) May 17, 2023
EA Sports and OneTeam Partners are still ironing out specific details, such as the amount of money players will receive and the payment structure. A representative from EA Sports told ESPN that the goal is to be “as inclusive and equitable as possible,” while the OneTeam website says if individual sales can’t be identified, especially with video game licensing (as is the case with EA Sports College Football), then “revenue will be divided equally among the athletes included in each licensing program.”
EA Sports previously had a collegiate game series called NCAA College Football, released between 1993 and 2013. The franchise got discontinued after NCAA Football 14 due to legal disputes between EA and NCAA regarding the use of players’ NILs, which the latter party had forbidden due to the concept of sport amatuerism. Now EA will be able to use college players’ NILs thanks to a 2021 Supreme Court ruling saying that student athletes can profit off of them.
EA Sports College Football will be released in Summer 2024 on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S.
Cristina Alexander is a freelance writer for IGN. She has contributed her work to various publications, including Digital Trends, TheGamer, Twinfinite, Mega Visions, and The Escapist. To paraphrase Calvin Harris, she wears her love for Sonic the Hedgehog on her sleeve like a big deal. Follow her on Twitter @SonicPrincess15.
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