There’s been a void in the lives of video game enthusiasts and college football fans for the past decade.
EA Sports College Football has been gone for quite some time as fans called for it to come back. When EA Sports announced the return of its college football series in 2021, questions surrounding name, image, and likeness were among the biggest they needed to answer.
EA Sports College Football is set to return, but there are still some issues going on. Players may end up holding out of the game for more money.
Oklahoma quarterback General Booty addressed this issue while at the INFLCR NIL Summit.
“That’s a tough one,” Booty told On3. “We’ve actually been talking about that in the locker room. So, we’ve all talked about it because we want the game to come out, obviously. But we were saying if they come out and try to lowball and say we want to give everyone $200. Well, guys maybe like, like you mentioned Caleb Williams, may say no and then he’s not in the game. Then all the USC fans – who wants to buy the game and not play with him, you know?”
Kansas quarterback Jalon Daniels also spoke on this as well.
“Yes. Yes. I can definitely see that,” Daniels said. “I could definitely see it, especially with the highest college football players that are in the nation right now. If they’re getting paid as, you know, somebody who a lot of people really don’t know of and they’re the most known person in college football, I can definitely see their agent saying, ‘Alright, what’s going on here?’”
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Much has happened since many of those declarations, including the passage of NIL legislation and college athletes making money off their name, image, and likenesses.
At the time of the announcement that the game was returning, Notre Dame was among a small number of schools that indicated through statements or news reports that it would not agree to participate until NIL compensation was worked out.
On3’s Pete Nakos further reported that combined compensation for players who opt into the video game is expected to hover around $5 million. That would come out to $500 per player.
For participating players, it is possible a face scan of their likenesses could be in the game but not every athlete will receive a face scan because there are thousands of FBS players across the country.
While many will be happy just to be in the game, most want to make sure they get paid as not every player will have a shot at making it in the NFL.
