San Diego State Hosts NIL Launch Event for College Football 25 Release
The excitement for the upcoming EA Sports College Football 25 video game is reaching unprecedented levels. Thanks to the iconic gaming franchise’s over decade-long hiatus and a marketing masterclass from EA Sports, the game, slated to release in roughly two weeks, has longstanding and new fans alike clamoring to get their first taste of the game. Feeling the palpable anticipation for the game, San Diego State and Novo Brazil Brewing devised a genius idea to turn the release into a community event to increase fan engagement and create yet another NIL opportunity for San Diego State Football players.
The party will occur at Novo Brazil Brewing’s Mission Valley location on July 18th. The free event will allow those who register to interact with new Aztec Football head coach Sean Lewis and players from the Aztec football roster, see early access gameplay of College Football 25, and enjoy free live music, autographs, posters, and other prizes.
A little NIL fun for this monumental release! https://t.co/QHq5qvlvGW
— San Diego State NIL (@Aztec_NIL) July 3, 2024
According to sources at San Diego State, recent Florida State quarter transfer AJ Duffy will be in attendance –– based upon spring practice reps, Duffy appears to be the presumptive starter in a four-quarterback competition. Many other impactful first-year transfers will also attend the College Football 25 premiere: Bryce Phillips (DB), Ja'Shaun Poke (WR), Jeremiah Mcclure (WR), Jude Wolfe (TE), Louis Brown (WR), and Owen Chambliss (LB) amongst others. For Aztec fans, this event will be one predicated on firsts. For many, this event will be the first time they will see the new head coach, the new faces on the field for the 2024-25 season, and the first time seeing a new college football video game in eleven years.
The event is facilitated by Aztec Link, the NIL collective of the SDSU football team, but interestingly, the idea was the brainchild of new head coach Sean Lewis. San Diego State NIL Coordinator Brenden Hill stated that Coach Lewis pitched the idea “as a way to engage the fan base and do something fun for our student-athletes”; Frazier is “a fan of the game from his time as a student-athlete.” Hill stated that from the Aztec Athletic Department’s eyes, the upcoming release of the College Football 25 “is such an iconic moment for the video game, EA, student-athletes, and NIL. We wanted to make sure we did something to celebrate it.”
Novo Brazil Brewing is a logical partner for Aztec Football. In early 2024, the company partnered with the Mesa Foundation, San Diego State Men’s Basketball NIL collective, to create a custom Aztec hard kombucha, with a portion of the profits going towards NIL funding. The local brewery has made it their mission to integrate themselves into the San Diego sports communities with exclusive partnerships with the San Diego Padres and Aztec Football's home Snapdragon Stadium. These partnerships work to bolster notoriety from the San Diego community, and now, the in-person event will drive brick-and-mortar sales.
This is an incredible NIL activation on all sides of the college football ecosystem. A new head coach can interface with fans and stoke excitement for his new brand of “Aztec Fast” football; transfer athletes can get rolling and knock out NIL engagements for collective contracts and integrate themselves with their new community; Novo Brazil Brewing will continue to capitalize on San Diego sports fandom; EA Sports, who approved of the concept and creative design, will receive increased exposure; and, most importantly, Aztec football devotees will receive a great product to enhance their fan experience.
NOAH HENDERSON
Professor Noah Henderson teaches in the sport management department at Loyola University Chicago. Outside the classroom, he advises companies, schools, and collectives on Name, Image, and Likeness best practices. His academic research focuses on the intersection of law, economics, and social consequences regarding college athletics, NIL, and sports gambling. Before teaching, Prof. Henderson was part of a team that amended Illinois NIL legislation and managed NIL collectives at the nation’s most prominent athletic institutions while working for industry leader Student Athlete NIL. He holds a Juris Doctor from the University of Illinois College of Law in Urbana-Champaign and a Bachelor of Economics from Saint Joseph’s University, where he was a four-year letter winner on the golf team. Prof. Henderson is a native of San Diego, California, and a former golf CIF state champion with Torrey Pines High School. Outside of athletics, he enjoys playing guitar, hanging out with dogs, and eating California burritos. You can follow him on Twitter: @NoahImgLikeness.