EA Sports College Football To Return With Name, Image And Likeness Plan

With EA Sports now having a plan for revenue splits for college players the popular video game is set to return

The return of EA Sports college football video games is about a year away and it looks like college athletes’ name, image and likenesses will be part of the new series. According to an ESPN.com report, EA Sports and One Team Partners will include virtual likenesses of real college players in the new games.

From the ESPN.com article:

“The partnership will include the chance for all eligible FBS players to opt in to have their likenesses in EA Sports College Football, the (EA Sports) representative said. Those players will receive compensation for being placed in the game.”

The report says details like how much a player will be paid and the structure of the payments is still being worked out. And if a player does not wish to be included in the game, a generic avatar will be created to take that player’s place in the game.

EA Sports announced in February, 2021 that it would be bringing back its college football game, which was last produced in 2013, but was discontinued while the Ed O’Bannon antitrust class action lawsuit against the NCAA was taking place. After EA Sports announced that it would reprise the college football game series, Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick released the following statement:

“Notre Dame Athletics welcomes the return of EA Sports College Football, a video game series that has historically helped promote interest in college football. Notre Dame will not, however, participate in the game until such time as rules have been finalized governing the participation of our student-athletes. As those rules are developed, it is our strong desire that student-athletes be allowed to benefit directly from allowing their name, image and performance history to be used in the game.”

According to the ESPN.com report, EA Sports has secured the rights to all 10 FBS conferences, more than 120 of 131 FBS schools and the College Football Playoff, but it is not clear yet if Notre Dame will participate.

“A Notre Dame source told ESPN on Wednesday that the school had been in touch with EA Sports to help with NIL integration for the video game,” the report states. “It doesn't seem, though, that Notre Dame has made a decision on being in the game.”

Be sure to check out the Irish Breakdown message board, the Champions Lounge

Irish Breakdown Content

2023 Scholarship Chart
2023 Football Schedule

Notre Dame 2024 Scholarship Offers

2024 Commit Rankings - Offense
2024 Commit Rankings - Defense

2023 Recruiting Class Grades - Offense
2023 Recruiting Class Grades - Defense

———————

Become a premium Irish Breakdown member, which grants you access to all of our premium content and our premium message board! Click on the link below for more.

BECOME A MEMBER

Be sure to stay locked into Irish Breakdown all the time!

Join the Irish Breakdown community!
Subscribe to the Irish Breakdown YouTube channel
Subscribe to the Irish Breakdown podcast on iTunes
Follow me on Twitter: @SeanStires
Like and follow Irish Breakdown on Facebook

Sign up for the FREE Irish Breakdown daily newsletter