Alabama receiver Ryan Williams and other Crimson Tide players are among college football players who have signed group licensing agreements for their name, image and likeness to be used in video games.
Yahoo Sports broke the news in what the outlet suggests “is expected to be the single largest commercial deal in the industry’s history.”
Pathway Sports and Entertainment, a company described as focusing on monetizing athlete NIL rights, provides players with “four-figure guarantees as part of video game NIL agreements,” the company’s executives told Yahoo Sports.
According to the report, Pathway has signed up more than 450 players at Alabama, Illinois, Georgia, Texas Tech, Wisconsin and Oregon.
“(Pathway is) helping us get our fair share of royalties from a billion-dollar business driven by a video game that is loved around the world,” Williams, the Alabama receiver, told Yahoo.
Per the story, each player gets $1,500 upfront with royalty pay also expected.
The goal of the company is to sign all scholarship college football players with scheduled visits to Clemson, West Virginia, Missouri and Tennessee next.
NFLPA executive Casey Schwab, part of the Pathway three-member leadership team told Pete Thamel that “most athletic directors and most college football coaches want to support their football players in making legitimate commercial dollars. The reception so far has been excellent.”
Last year, EA Sports dealt with players directly and each got $600 for “College Football 25.”
Mark Heim is a reporter for The Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Mark_Heim. He can be heard on “The Opening Kickoff” on WNSP-FM 105.5 FM in Mobile or on the free Sound of Mobile App from 6 to 9 a.m. daily.
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