When EA Sports’ College Football game makes its return in 2024, it will include the names, images and likenesses of actual players for the first time.
All eligible FBS players will be allowed to opt in to be included in the game and will receive compensation, thanks to NIL regulations.
EA Sports said Wednesday that it has contracted with OneTeam Partners, a sports licensing firm, to bring the athletes on board.
“We’ve wanted to feature collegiate athletes in a meaningful way from the start of our journey to bring an EA SPORTS college football experience back to our fans,” EA Sports said Wednesday in a statement, per USA Today. “We’re excited to have an agreement in place with OneTeam Partners that will enable us to include the names and likenesses of eligible collegiate football athletes at NCAA Division 1 Football Subdivision schools who opt-in to being featured in EA SPORTS College Football.”
ESPN said that players who choose not to participate will be represented by a generic avatar, as all players were in past versions of the game. The network said EA Sports has commitments from more than 120 FBS programs, as well as all 10 conferences and the College Football Playoff to allow player participation.
How much the players stand to earn has yet to be revealed.
Production of the popular game ended in 2013 over issues concerning compensating players for use of their names, images and likenesses. EA Sports announced in 2021 that production would resume.
–Field Level Media