College football players will be paid to appear in EA Sports’ College Football 25, but will likely receive less than the student-athletes who initially sued to get the game shut down.
EA Sports announced Thursday that all 134 FBS schools will be available in College Football 25, This allows more than 11,000 players to opt in for inclusion for the game, with the opt-in window beginning on Thursday. One EA spokesperson told ESPN that any student-athletes who approve their name, image and likeness for the game will receive $600 and a copy of the game. Athletes who opt in would remain in the game for their entire careers but can opt out of future editions.
According to sports business reporter Darren Rovell, this amount would be less than the median payout for players during the EA lawsuit. The landmark antitrust class action suit, O’Bannon vs. NCAA, opened the door for name, image, and likeness and shuttered the college sports franchises in the first palace. When the case finalized a $40 million settlement, the estimated 100,000 participants received a median payout of $1,000 for one year’s participation in the franchise.
As early as June 2023, On3 reported that players should boycott the deal for the game. The payout at the time the story was reported was allegedly down to $500 and did not include a copy of the game. Justin Falcinelli, vice president of the College Football Players Association, encouraged the boycott because NFL payments for EA’s Madden franchise are in the tens of thousands, with some deals even including royalties on the game.
“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,” Falcinelli told On3. “Given the context and the hype that surrounds this game. When we first heard the number, we’re like, ‘Alright, that sounds low. Let’s go figure out if it is low.’ And started talking to guys, talked to some of my friends, some guys who are still playing in the NFL. ‘So, what are NFL players getting paid for Madden?’ And the numbers we were given were from 2019, it was disclosed that they got, I think, about $17,000. And then a current NFL player told us that he got a check for $28,000 this year for Madden.
“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.”
Other college football alumni shared a similar sentiment. Sam Schwartzstein, a former player at Stanford and participant in the O’Bannon lawsuit, called the deal for players “a huge rush job” that was meant to “make the players the bad guys.”
“This $600 number is so weird,” Schwartzstein wrote in a post on X (fka Twitter). “It’s way less than what we got AFTER class action lawyers got their cut. It’s negotiated not on behalf of the players but with a company that doesn’t actually represent the players. This is a huge rush job to get the game out make the players the bad guys for not wanting to be in the game.”
ESPN also reported that NIL will be a game mechanic in the new game.
