After nearly a decade without an official college football game, Electronic Arts has finally unveiled a teaser for the long-awaited return of its college football video game franchise. EA Sports College Football 25 will be released this summer, with a full game reveal in May. But for now, the company has published a short hype video to reassure fans: Yes, it really happens.
The nearly two-minute video is mostly live-action, but there are a few quick looks at some of the in-game progress: stadiums, mascots, locker rooms, jerseys and helmets.
Image: EA Sports/Electronic Arts
If you’re not a fan of college football or don’t follow sports video games, you might be wondering what the big deal is. There hasn’t been another edition of the College Football franchise since NCAA Football 14, featuring former University of Michigan quarterback Denard Robinson on the cover. The franchise is so beloved by college football fans that people still play the 10-year-old game: And update to stay current.
There’s clearly a market for college football video games, but there’s a reason EA Sports hasn’t made a new game in so long: legally, it wasn’t possible. For years, EA has licensed the NCAA’s National Collegiate Athletic Association name and similarities to schools and conferences from groups like the Collegiate Licensing Company. Because NCAA rules at the time prevented players from making money from their own name and likeness, the games had to use “fake” players on the real teams, thus excluding players (who at the time could not legally make money from the game could receive). ) from the significant profits. But those fake players were more often than not essentially identical to the real players, with identical appearances, uniform numbers and attributes, just with fake names.
Former UCLA basketball player Ed O’Bannon filed a lawsuit against both the NCAA and the Collegiate Licensing Company in 2009, arguing that the practice violated antitrust laws; specifically he pointed out the way his likeness was used NCAA basketball 09 without permission. A slew of other Division I basketball and football players joined the lawsuit. Ultimately, EA settled with the players and paid out $40 million, netting approximately 100,000 players who had appeared in basketball and football games since 2003 “up to $4,000.” according to ESPN. The case continued in court, where a judge ultimately ruled on NCAA rules did violate antitrust laws. The NCAA appealed and the Supreme Court denied it. The NCAA also paid $42 million in fees and costs. But the consequences of the lawsuit were that the NCAA, Southeastern Conference, Big Ten and Pac-12 have revoked EA licenseswhich effectively ends the video game series.
In 2019, the NCAA lost another major lawsuit against athletes for limiting the value of college scholarships; the judge highlighted how much money the NCAA makes from its players, calling it “extraordinary revenue” compared to players’ “modest benefits.” as Sports Illustrated reported. The Supreme Court denied another NCAA appeal in 2021confirming the court’s ruling.
The NCAA announced this the new Player Name, Image and Likeness Policy (called NIL for short) in 2021, which will allow players to get paid for sponsorships, endorsements and other deals around their image and likeness. There are still rules, like requirements around reporting these things to their schools, but it was a big win for college athletes. Both federal And state governments have worked on legislation to protect the rights of college athletes.
So far, EA Sports has confirmed this that it has a partnership with the Collegiate Licensing Company for school-related matters such as mascots, uniforms and stadiums. The company said at the time that player likenesses would not be included, but that it “continues to closely monitor those developments,” meaning legislation. It was announced in 2023 EA Sports College Football 25 let players choose to participate in the game, According to ESPN, licensing company OneTeam Partners is used. And those players shall be paid for participating in the game. For players who don’t want to play in the game, EA will create a generic avatar. Several schools have announced they have signed on for the game, including the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Northwestern University, Texas Christian University, California State University, Fresno and Tulane University, according to ESPN. Thursday’s trailer features the University of Michigan, the University of Georgia, the University of Florida and the University of Alabama.