College football players from all 134 Football Bowl Subdivision teams can choose to participate in EA Sports College Football 25 starting Thursday, officially preparing athletes to get paid for their first video game appearance.
EA Sports announced Thursday morning that all 134 FBS teams will be in the game, including soon-to-be FBS member Kennesaw State. OneTeam Partners will manage player group licensing for the game and is also expected to announce Thursday that players will be able to register through Learfield’s COMPASS NIL app.
An EA Sports spokesperson said Athleticism that each player who registers and is selected for the game will receive $600 and a copy of the game (a $70 value). Up to 85 players per school will be included on initial rosters. A number of college athletes, both in and out of football, will also become ambassadors for the game and receive zero additional compensation. Players who do not register will be represented by a generic player avatar, like Barry Bonds was in many MLB video games. With over 11,000 players expected in the game, this is likely the largest NIL group partnership of its kind. (For comparison, the NFL has around 1,700 active players at any given point in the season.)
The game is expected to be released this summer.
Players will be encouraged to register by April 30 to guarantee their place in the first iteration of the game, a OneTeam spokesperson said; The sooner players register, the sooner they can receive their payment. Unlike professional video games, players’ faces will not be scanned, partly due to the large number of players. Information and images will be taken from team rosters. Although Air Force, Army, and Navy players are not allowed to accept NIL offers and payments, they should be in the game.
According to a source who reviewed the membership offer, players sign up for the duration of their eligibility, will be paid annually and can opt out of the game in the future.
OneTeam Partners has worked with EA Sports for years, managing group licensing with the NFL Players Association for Madden and with MLS and NWSL for EA Sports’ soccer titles. OneTeam previously partnered with COMPASS NIL app for Fanatics’ college football jersey group licensing deal.
“Including players in the return of the EA Sports College Football franchise ensures they will receive their direct benefits,” Shelbi Hendricks, senior vice president of OneTeam Partners, said in a statement. “Our partnership with industry leaders like EA Sports and (Collegiate Licensing Company) focuses on authentic representation, highlighting the crucial role current players play in shaping the game.”
They are in the game.
College Football 25 will feature all 134 FBS schools #CFB25 pic.twitter.com/WLH3DEXdv0
– EASPORTSCollege (@EASPORTSCollege) February 22, 2024
This official announcement brings one of the NIL’s first major controversies full circle. It’s been 11 years since EA Sports released a college football game. More than a decade ago, lawsuits over players’ inability to profit from their NIL focused primarily on video games, in which anonymous players had the same numbers, the same measurables, and the same hometowns than real athletes.
Former UCLA basketball player Ed O’Bannon, a plaintiff in the landmark antitrust lawsuit against the NCAA for barring players from profiting from the use of their likeness in the game, said he didn’t want College sports video games stop – he just wanted players to be compensated. EA Sports also said in its court filings at the time that it was willing to pay players. But the NCAA wouldn’t allow it. EA Sports eventually settled with the plaintiffs before trial, and the game ceased production due to litigation issues. More than 29,000 athletes received a share of $40 million, an average of about $1,200 that varied depending on how much players used the game.
EA Sports announced in February 2021 that a college football video game would return, and the NIL rules adopted that summer opened the door for real players. Later in 2021, Notre Dame said it would not allow its logos to be used in-game unless players were paid to be a part of it. The Fighting Irish will be there, along with 133 other FBS schools.
EA Sports College Football 25 will be fully revealed in May ahead of its summer release. Some details of the game are already known. Sources involved with the game say it will be built on the Madden engine but will not be a reskin of Madden. Dynasty mode and Road to Glory will once again be the modes offered. A transfer portal is also expected. Schools have submitted thousands of assets to EA Sports over the past three years, including stadium photos, jerseys, crowd cheers and more. Footage from the College Football Playoff will be used, a CFP spokesperson said Wednesday, and developers continue to plan every possible detail and change to the sport before the game’s release.
“This is the first game I’ll get to play as myself,” Kansas quarterback Jalon Daniels said. Athleticism last fall. “I’m playing NCAA ’14 with revamped teams, but to think there’s a real game with me in there that I didn’t have to create, that’s going to be exciting.”
(Photo courtesy of EA Sports)