EA Sports cleared a major hurdle standing in the way of fans finally getting their hands on a new college football video game.
It’s been about 10 years since EA Sports stopped making college football games after multiple lawsuits filed over athlete likenesses resulted in massive payouts to players featured. Plenty of football fans still dust off NCAA 14 and boot it up to play Dynasty Mode or Road to Glory, but they may receive a long-awaited upgrade.
In February 2021, EA Sports finally announced a revival for the series under a new name, EA Sports College Football. Original reports pointed toward a summer 2023 release date with a four-year license proposal, but the developers went radio silent after the initial announcement.
That was until a report revealed EA Sports found a solution to the problem that originally shut the series down.
FBS players will be able to be in EA Sports College Football
In 2021, the NIL policy passed, allowing D1, D2, and D3 student-athletes to be compensated for their name, image, and likeness. This opened the door for college athletes to feature in EA Sports College Football.
On May 17, ESPN reported, “An EA Sports representative confirmed to ESPN on Wednesday that it has contracted with OneTeam Partners to ‘facilitate collegiate athletes’ names and likenesses’ into the game.”
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FBS players will be able to opt-in to have their likeness in EA Sports College Football. ESPN elaborated that players will receive compensation for being placed in the game, but details as to how are still being finalized.
EA Sports told ESPN: “More than 120 FBS schools have committed to being in the game — along with all 10 FBS conferences and the College Football Playoff.”
BREAKING: FBS football players will be able to be in EA Sports’ new college football game, I’ve learned. EA Sports & OneTeam have partnered to handle NIL rights for any FBS player who is eligible to be in EA Sports College Football.Details here 👇🏻https://t.co/FeUMftzMRB
— Michael Rothstein (@mikerothstein) May 17, 2023
ESPN clarified that if a player doesn’t want to be in the game, EA Sports would create a generic avatar in that athlete’s place, and not every player will receive a face scan as there are thousands of FBS players.
As for a release date, ESPN confirmed EA Sports College football will launch in the summer of 2024.
