The summer of 2024 was marked by the triumphant return of EA Sports College Football 25 to the video game landscape after a decade away.
The incredibly popular video game was off shelves for a decade due to issues that arose over amateurism of the college athletes in the game. Name, Image, and Likeness of players were used in previous editions of the game, but players were not paid.
Once NIL finally made it through the courts, allowing for college athletes to maintain their amateurism while profiting of their Name, Image, and Likeness, the development of the video game began. Players were paid $600 each in the game’s return in exchange for their Name, Image, and Likeness being used in EA Sports College Football 25.
When the game releases the new edition this summer, players are in line to make more than they did in 2024. A company called Pathway Sports and Entertainment, founded by Casey Schwab, has signed a majority of the football players at Alabama, Georgia, Illinois, Wisconsin, Oregon and Texas Tech, according to a report from ESPN’s Pete Thamel.
More than 450 players have already been signed. Each player will receive $1,500 in group rights, which more than doubles what players were paid when the new video game was released last summer. There’s additional money available for high-end players, and the plan is for the company to sign every FBS school, which could cost upwards of $17 million.
Schwab told Thamel that this will be the “largest commercial program for college athletes in history” as the company attempts to execute its goal to “be the first group that actually negotiates directly with video game makers on behalf of the group.”
Schwab added that reception has been “excellent” from athletic directors and coaches alike from across the sport.
Most players were just happy to get their hands on the college football video game that they played in their youth, but being paid for it makes it all the better.
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