This Thursday will be the first opportunity for more than 11,000 college football players to sign up for EA Sports’ new college football game, EA Sports College Football 25, and receive payment for it.
EA Sports will start the opt-in procedure after finalizing its name, image, and likeness plan. When the game launches this summer, rosters in it can have up to 85 players per school.
In the end, any athlete who chooses to have their name, image, and likeness appear will receive $600 in addition to a copy of the game, which is usually worth $70.
What does it mean for the athletes?
Players might choose to not participate in upcoming iterations of the game, but they would be locked in for the duration of their careers. Players that transfer will continue to be paid as long as they are on a roster, and athletes who participate for several years will receive annual compensation. According to  EA Sports vice president of business development Sean O’Brien :
“We feel very proud that we’ll be the largest program, likely the highest-spending program,”
“And really an inclusive opportunity with an equitable distribution of funds across the board.”
O’Brien claimed that EA Sports examined agreements with other sports games, such as the company’s soccer game, the NHL series, and the Madden NFL series, to help determine the $600 payment. Regardless of the popularity of the game, EA Sports’ college football arrangement is assured and does not impose any expectations on the athlete’s services.
According to Holt (EA Sports’ senior vice president), if a player decides not to participate in the game, EA Sports will generate a generic avatar for that school based on the position’s historical strength and weakness over the last ten years. Holt stated that they intend to “make sure the program still represents the integrity and strength of how that team plays and what that program has done over the past recent history.”
Although Holt stated that opt-out players cannot be formed and added to the game, players would still be able to create their own characters.
