CFB Players Association urges boycott over EA Sports College Football video game
College football players in the new EA Sports College Football video game? Not so fast my friend.
Fans of the popular video game franchise set to return next year were excited to learn EA Sports contracted OneTeam Partners to incorporate the names, images and likenesses into the game. So when the game is relaunched, all eligible FBS players can opt in to have their likenesses incorporated and players will be compensated for opting in, rather than random, generic players making up the teams.
But a new report puts player likeness in the game in doubt, with concerns about how players will be compensated for allowing their names, images and likenesses in the game.
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Payment for NIL use is too low, group says
The College Football Players Association is urging eligible players to boycott the use of their likeness in the new video game, according to On3, citing the amount of compensation players would get.
It is unclear how much players will be compensated for their likeness in the game. An EA Sports representative told ESPN that the goal was to be "as inclusive and equitable as possible."
"If it is not possible to identify individual sales, like in the case of video games, then revenue will be divided equally among the athletes included in each licensing program," OneTeam Partners, who EA Sports contracted for NIL use in the game, says on its website.
On3 reported players could earn $500 each, which the CFBPA criticized for being too low.
"All current players should boycott this deal. It is an opt-in deal, and they should not opt into it. It is just a ridiculously low amount of money," Justin Falcinelli, former Clemson center and vice president of CFBPA, told On3. "You should not participate in this. It is a simple cash grab to just try to get you for the lowest amount possible. And it’s OneTeam Partners and all these organizations that don’t really represent the players’ best interest."
Falcinelli said he explored how much NFL players were paid for their likeness in the Madden franchise, and found out players were paid around $17,000 in recent years.
CFBPA: Players 'deserve just compensation'
Jason Stahl, executive director of the CFBPA, said in a statement there are other factors that make it a bad deal, arguing OneTeam "was given a monopoly over this deal" and it would pit star players against non-star players over how much players can earn. Stahl added players need "real representation" when negotiating these deals.
"You’re not 'kids' who should just be happy to be in a video game. You’re hard-working young adults who generate billions and billions and billions of dollars every year for conferences, colleges and corporations. The real game and the video game happen because of your labors and your sacrifices. You deserve just compensation for both and I urge you to join the CFBPA today to make sure bad deals like this don’t happen in the future," Stahl said.
Paste BN Sports has reached out to OneTeam for comment.
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Issues with college football video games and player likeness
The potential boycott of the new video game sounds similar to how the franchise was discontinued.
The last college football game EA Sports released was in 2013 with NCAA Football 14. After the release, the series was discontinued over debate of athletes names, images and likenesses being used in the game, but not getting compensated for it.
Actual players were not included in the game, but the game's rosters closely mirrored their real life counterparts. For instance, Johnny Manziel was not in NCAA Football 14, but Texas A&M QB #2 resembled him.
When does EA Sports College Football come out?
No exact date has been given for the game's release, but it slated to come out in summer 2024.
Contributing: Lorenzo Reyes