The college football world and video game enthusiasts across the nation applauded EA Sports announcement this morning that the company will be releasing a college football video game in 2022.
Due to licensing and legal issues, EA Sports has not released a college football video game series since 2014. The producer of the ever-popular Madden NFL video game series, EA Sports has partnered with CLC, a collegiate licensing company, which will allow it to include specific details such as team names, mascots and uniforms, but not the real names and numbers of individual players.
EA Sports Executive Vice President Cam Weber told The Washington Post that the game’s rosters will be composed of players with randomly generated names, numbers and attributes, “thereby avoiding potential infringement on any current players’ name, image or likeness rights.”
EA Sports discontinued the college football series after the company and the NCAA were sued by former UCLA basketball player Ed O’Bannon on behalf of college athletes over the unpaid use of their likenesses. EA Sports settled the suit for $40 million. In 2020, the NCAA announced that it would allow athletes to be compensated from the use of their names, images and likenesses, just as long such deals come from a third party, as universities will still not be allowed to pay the athletes directly.
Now the million-dollar question – which college football great will grace the cover of the initial release of the new college football series? Herschel Walker, Tim Tebow, Bo Jackson, Peyton Manning…. let’s hear your opinion.