Earlier this year, EA said that it will bring back its long-defunct college football video game. Now that the NIL floodgates are open, EA’s college football game may include actually college football players.
“We are watching the recent developments regarding student-athlete name, image and likeness very closely,” EA said in a statement. “It’s still very early stages at this point, and we plan to explore the possibility of including players in EA Sports College Football. For now, our development team is focused on working with our partners at CLC to ensure the game authentically showcases the great sport of college football and the more than 100 institutions signed on to be featured in our game.”
The challenge will come from doing deals with individual players. Some will want more than others. Some won’t want to do it at all.
For the NFL, a group licensing deal covers active players. To opt out of Madden, a player must opt out of the entire group licensing deal. For the college game, it’ll require tracking down each player and getting a deal done so that he can be in the game.
