EA Sports College Football faces player boycott over low compensation

Reports suggest college football players could earn as little as $500 for their involvement in the game

EA Sports is on the verge of reviving its College Football video game series, and previously claimed it would offer compensation to any schools and players who allow their likeness to be used in the game. According to new reports, however, the compensation could be as little as $500 per player, which has prompted calls for a boycott.

A new report from ON3 claims that EA Sports will be paying players who agree to be featured in the upcoming college football game from a pool of roughly $5 million, for a payout of approximately $500 per player. Players who appear in Madden games reportedly can receive tens of thousands of dollars for their involvement, and will sometimes receive ongoing royalties.

A further report from Sportico suggests that college players will not receive royalties of any kind, with the report also stating that the $500 payment is a set fee with no ability to negotiate. The apparent low compensation has sparked calls for players to boycott the game, with the College Football Players Association spearheading the effort.

“All current players should boycott this deal,” Justin Falcinelli, vice president of the CFBPA, told ON3, “It is an opt-in deal, and they should not opt into it. It is just a ridiculously low amount of money.”

Falcinelli has been active on Twitter since the story broke, further advocating for players to boycott the game and explaining why the CFBPA is against the move.

“The pattern of corporate entities making deals on the players behalf needs to end, and they should negotiate with the players directly. Player insights could make for an even better product,” he said in a tweet today.

EA’s college football series started in 1993 with Bill Walsh College Football, and was renamed to NCAA Football in 1997. The series ended in 2013 after the NCAA declined to renew EA’s license due to a legal dispute over player likeness in the games.

In 2021, EA Sports announced the series would return, and subsequently said it would be released in the summer of 2024. The series will be called EA Sports College Football, forgoing the use of any organization name in the title, and will be developed by EA Tiburon, which also develops the Madden NFL series.