EA Sports' 2024 college football video game threatened by athletes' boycott

EA Sports announced the expected return of their college football video game line in 2024 after being out of creation since 2013's "NCAA Football 14." However, the much-anticipated return of the video game line may be put on hold as a boycott threatens the release.

The video game line was discontinued after the 2013 edition when the NCAA failed to renew its licensing agreement with Electronic Arts due to ongoing disputes and legal battles regarding the game's use of athletes' likenesses. However, with the introduction of the NCAA's new Name, Image and Likeness rules, or NIL, the video game series was set to return with compensation expected to be provided for the athletes.

However, the College Football Players Association, or CFBPA, is organizing a boycott in protest to the compensation provided by EA, according to Pete Nakos of On3. The cash pool for players is around $5 million, which pays out $500 per player, and does not include royalties.

According to Justin Falcinelli, the vice president of the CFBPA, $500 is not a fitting compensation for athletes, especially when compared to the compensation EA provides NFL athletes for their Madden line. EA pays out about $17,000 to each player, according to Falcinelli.

The program set up by EA requires student-athletes to opt into the deal providing the rights to their likeness in order to receive the compensation, according to On3, and the CFBPA is encouraging all current players to boycott the deal.

While the $500 compensation may be fine for some athletes, it does not reflect the value others could generate. If some of the top college football players join in on the protest that the CFBPA is urging, the loss could lead EA to look further into compensating the athletes.

For example, if the CFBPA could get an athlete like USC quarterback Caleb Williams in on the boycott, EA may look further into the situation. Williams is the current Heisman favorite, sitting at odds between +400 and +500 to win the award, according to OddsChecker, and commands a total NIL value of $2.6 million, fourth-most in the country, according to On3.

On3 adds the CFBPA has already been in touch with athletes regarding the boycott, and there is believed to almost be a consensus that the $500 value is not enough. On3 notes there's already been internal discussions in locker rooms regarding the potential holdout. Falcinelli told On3 he believes this could be a unifying effort to protest EA.

If the athletes do proceed with a holdout and some of the top names in college football join the cause, this could cause issues with EA's targeted release date of the summer of 2024. In the past, EA's games would work around the likeness issues by including rosters that mirrored the real ones. With the integration of NIL rules in the NCAA, this may make it more difficult to work around from EA's perspective.