EA College Football 25 Launches on All Platforms

After over a decade, EA College Football returned to gaming platforms nationwide today.

But why the hiatus?

It has everything to do with name, image, and likeness (NIL) before the NCAA allowed athletes to profit from their own NIL.  

In July 2009, Ed O’Bannon, a former UCLA basketball player, sued the NCAA, EA Sports, and the Collegiate Licensing Company (CLC) after seeing his likeness used in video games for which he received no compensation. 

At the time, it was standard practice for EA to negotiate with professional leagues and various athlete unions to allow the depiction of professional athletes in games, including Madden and NBA 2K (The Guardian).

This practice was not duplicated at the college level. Instead, EA worked with CLC to determine the depiction of individual college teams. At the same time, EA “used the same jersey numbers, heights, weights, skin tones, hair colors, and home states in its in-game bios, not only without permission but also without compensation” (ESPN). 

Other players joined the O’Bannon suit, which became an anti-trust class action lawsuit that cost EA and CLC $40 million (New York Times).

As a result, EA stopped producing the game in 2013. 

Flash forward to February 2021 – EA announced that NCAA Football would return under the name College Football. Three years later, in February 2024, EA tasked OneTeam Partners with NIL negotiation and CLC with college negotiation.

Eleven thousand college football players from 134 schools opted into a partnership with One Team Partners that paid them $600 and included a free copy of the game (MarketWatch). Higher profile athletes, like Arch Manning, negotiated their deals separately (Sports Illustrated).

EA Sports made between $165 to $220 million during the preorder period, which makes the $600 athlete payout low in comparison.

Despite the relatively low pay, college football players are excited about the ability to play themselves in the game, and NIL collectives are getting into the mix with launch parties for fans.