REDWOOD CITY, Calif. — College football players will benefit financially from the use of their likenesses when EA Sports brings back its college football game for the first time since 2013.
The gaming company says it wants “to bring an EA SPORTS college football experience back to our fans,” and will allow student-athletes to opt in or opt out of having their likeness included. Those that opt in will receive compensation.
The company confirmed Wednesday that players who decide to opt out of EA Sports College Football will be replaced by generic avatars. It declined to discuss financial terms of the deal, such as whether more popular players will be compensated differently than less-known ones or whether their popularity will be tracked, and said its goal is to have all Division I FBS programs represented.
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:
EA Sports last issued a college football game in 2013.