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EA Sports has announced that it will allow college football players to opt into lending their likenesses to next year’s EA Sports College Football, with those who agree to do so eligible for compensation in return.
ESPN reports that the publisher has signed on with OneTeam Partners–a firm specializing in partnerships like that also works with the NFL and MLS Players Associations–to “facilitate collegiate athletes’ names and likenesses” into the new game. The offer will be extended to every eligible player in the Division 1 Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), and any player who opts out will be replaced with a generic avatar and player.
Specific details are still being worked out according to the ESPN report, but a representative from EA Sports told them that the goal is to be “as inclusive and equitable as possible,” while OneTeam’s website mentions that “revenue will be divided equally among the athletes included in each licensing program.”
Player likenesses were a key component in the discontinuation of EA Sports’s previous NCAA Football franchise, with multiple lawsuits opening the door for college players to earn compensation for their names, images, and likenesses–also known as NIL.
EA Sports College Football is scheduled to launch in 2024 for both Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5.
