For all the college football lovers, EA Sports may have just made your day. On Feb 2nd, 2021, it was announced that EA Sports is looking to return their college football video game series. After the most recent college football video game being released in 2013, it was a huge question on if another college football video game was going to be created. However, EA Sports vice-president Daryl Holt told ESPN that the game is returning to many people’s game consoles.
“As we look for the momentum that we’re building on in sports, it all starts with the passion of our fans and the opportunities of what they are interested in,” Holt said. “I don’t think there’s a visit where I go outside wearing a piece of EA Sports-branded apparel that someone doesn’t go, ‘Hey, when is college football coming back?'”
It’s not an official date for when the game will be released, but it is currently in the works.
For those who never stopped believing… #EASPORTSCollegeFootball pic.twitter.com/ojDl9LzXuj
— EASPORTSCollege (@EASPORTSCollege) February 2, 2021
EA Sports will partner with collegiate licensing company CLC to make sure the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) schools, traditions, uniforms, and playbooks are ready to go for the game. Which it is reported that the game will have over 100 teams. Currently, NCAA rules prohibit athletes from selling their NIL rights while in college. Which for now, EA Sports is planning to move forward with the game without rosters that include the names, images, or likenesses of real college players.
The rules that the NCAA has set up could change in the near future. It’s not clear if they will grant EA Sports some type of group licensing arrangements that will allow them to use player’s names.
Holt mentioned that he will monitor the NIL discussion if and when things change, but it’s quite early for that to happen. Which he added that no matter any changes that happen within the NIL legislation, it will not affect if the game happens or when it will end up on our local GameStop shelves. “We’ll just keep tabs on everything as it develops, and we’ll be ready,” Holt said. “That won’t be a problem for us. But it’s really, that’s not an answer for us right now to decide. We’re as much passengers as anyone else.”
The executive director of the National College Players Association, Ramogi Huma stated that he believed the wave of proposals to give athletes a chance to make money in new ways helped drive the return of the game. Huma stated, “This is an exciting development, but the game is not going to be the same without the players. The timing reflects that. Without a clear path with the players, nothing happened. In order for EA Sports to have the type of quality that it had prior to ceasing production, you’ve got to have the players in there. Otherwise, the game will be a shell of itself.”
The huge movement behind letting NCAA players be able to make a profit behind their names could help EA Sports to be able to actually use the players in the return of the college football video game. Especially since the news has been dropped many NCAA fans have been throwing out names on who should grace the cover of the game. Which the NCAA Football 2014 cover star was former Michigan quarterback Denard Robinson on the cover. The return of this video game could be a huge step for not only EA Sports but the NCAA and its players also.
