EA Sports College Football 25 passes 14K opt-ins, Mississippi State to host video game launch party

After more than a decade of waiting and anticipation, EA Sports College Football 25 drops in less than a month.

OneTeam Partners, which commercializes group licensing rights of professional and collegiate athletes, has been running point on managing the facilitation of NIL rights between EA and college football athletes.

Just 10 days after the launch of the opt-in program, EA announced more than 10,000 athletes opted into the game. OneTeam told On3 on Thursday afternoon that EA is now north of 14,000 opt-ins ahead of the July release.

OneTeam and CLC have worked hand-in-hand to facilitate the deals. Athletes receive $600 plus a copy of the game for their participation.

With the goal of having 85-man rosters for all 134 FBS teams, EA Sports is now over its goal by roughly 2,600. Nearly every major star in the sport has opted in, with the only notable holdout at this point being Texas quarterback Arch Manning. The Longhorns’ starting quarterback, Quinn Ewers, is on the game’s cover.

“The response to the athlete opt-in opportunity for EA Sports College Football 25 has been phenomenal,” EA Sports’ senior vice president and group general manager Daryl Holt previously told On3 in a statement. “… We’re excited to welcome more athletes in the weeks ahead and to debut this first class of athletes in the game when it launches this summer.”

EA has not announced how it plans to handle the overflow or if it will add upward of 85 players per roster. Some transfers this spring shared they still needed to sign up for the game. The video game company is spending $6 million to secure athletes’ rights, believed to be one of the largest NIL deals ever executed.

Athletes at Army, Navy and Air Force cannot accept compensation for participating in the game, however, EA is expected to include players from the service academies in the game.

Mississippi State to host College Football 25 launch party

The Mississippi State football program announced Thursday it plans to host an EA Sports College Football 25 launch party on July 18. Scheduled to be at Humphrey Coliseum, the event is open to Bulldogs fans and current members of the team. Mississippi State is also working to bring some former players to Starkville.

The Mississippi State athletic department is still working through the details of the event, however, part of the proceeds of the event will go to support the NIL collective, The Bulldog Initiative. It’s a smart idea to bring the community together while also fundraising to assist the football program retain and attract talent.

Mississippi State is the first school to announce a launch party, but it’s expected other schools will follow suit. The Bulldogs have worked closely with EA Sports throughout the process, sending in a range of assets and making sure their signature cowbells are included in the game.

EA received cowbells ringing along with the fight song, the maroon/white chant, the team tunnel run out and cowbell-filled crowd cheers audio assets for the game.