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Mississippi State's Mike Wright: Being in EA Sports College Football is 'something special'

ns_headshot_2024-clearby:Nick Schultz•02/22/24•

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Mike Wright
© Matt Bush-USA TODAY Sports

Thursday, EA Sports announced its opt-in program for College Football 25. OneTeam Partners and CLC are partnering to manage athlete participation in the highly anticipated video game, which is making its return with players able to use their name, image and likeness.

Athletes who are picked by EA to have their NIL featured in the game will receive $600 and a copy of the game, On3’s Pete Nakos reported. Players don’t have to opt in, though. They can forego using their name in the game.

But to Mississippi State quarterback Mike Wright, it was a no-brainer decision.

“For me, I think this is one of those situations where memories trump money,” Wright said on SiriusXM College. “This is a game where … us as players, we’ve been playing since we could touch a controller. Everybody knew who No. 10 was from Baylor running around at quarterback. I mean, we knew who that was. For me, the fact that I can be in the game and the last name says Wright instead of the No. 14, I mean, that’s something special right there. So I think for me, I’ve kind of always been on board. I’ve kind of encouraged players to get on board, too, just because, I mean, this is a game that’s gonna keep releasing every year, to my knowledge.

“It’s like, if you want to be a part of it, you need to jump in because six years later from now, you can’t say, ‘Hey, EA, can I get in the game again?’ But what I do appreciate about EA is they give players the option to say, no, I don’t want to sign in, I don’t want my name in here. And that’s fine. I just like that at least players have the option to kind of choose which route they want to go.”

Wright confirmed he received an email about opting in to the game, and he didn’t sound like he wanted to wait too long before signing up.

“It’s a really, really exciting day,” Wright said. “I’m over here reading the email, and I’m just like, alright, where can I sign immediately already?”

EA Sports College Football is set for a summer release and will also feature some of the sport’s most notable voices. ESPN’s lead broadcast crew of Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit are on board, as are Rece Davis, Desmond Howard, David Pollack and Kevin Connors.