EA Sports launching promotional campaign for College Football 25

EA Sports is officially launching its marketing campaign for this summer’s release of College Football 25.

The video game company launched its NIL opt-in program on Thursday, working with OneTeam Partners and CLC’s Compass NIL app. Athletes who are picked by EA to have their NIL featured in the game will receive $600 and a copy of the game. It’s expected to be the largest NIL activation to date.

EA is not stopping there, though. Working with the NIL marketplace Opendorse, the college football video game franchise is signing side NIL deals with some of the sport’s top athletes to promote the game.

Those deals are not $600, rather each agreement is different and based on the athlete’s NIL value – basically, a negotiated marketing deal. A source has told On3 that a list of 100 priority athletes has been pieced together the last few weeks ahead of Thursday’s announcement. With a pre-approved budget, this is just phase one of EA’s marketing rollout.

As of Thursday, the players included in the promotion included:

• Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe
• Alabama safety Malachi Moore
• Arizona State receiver Raleek Brown
• Arkansas EDGE Landon Jackson
• Clemson quarterback Cade Klubnik
• Cincinnati running back Corey Kiner
• Colorado wide receiver/defensive back Travis Hunter
• Georgia quarterback Carson Beck
• Illinois quarterback Luke Altmyer
• LSU quarterback Garret Nussmeier
• Maryland quarterback Billy Edwards Jr.
• Michigan corner Will Johnson
• Michigan running back Donovan Edwards
• Missouri quarterback Brady Cook
• Ohio State corner Denzel Burke
• Ohio State running back Quinshon Judkins
• Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart
• Penn State running back Nick Singleton
• Pittsburgh safety Donovan McMillon
• Tennessee wide receiver Bru McCoy
• Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers
• Texas Tech running back Tahj Brooks
• UCLA quarterback Ethan Garbers
• Vanderbilt running back Sedrick Alexander
• Washington quarterback Will Rogers

The athletes tabbed to star in the paid partnerships are not limited to current college football players, though. Nebraska softball star Jordy Bahl and Colorado women’s basketball player Shelomi Sanders participated in the campaign.

More importantly, things are only just heating up.

While Denzel Burke, for example, is being paid on the side to promote the game now, he could also be tapped this summer to promote the official launch date, which has not been announced to this point.

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What to expect in EA Sports College Football 25?

The video game was last sold in 2013. At the time, EA Sports sold roughly 1.5 million copies. That number is expected to grow exponentially next summer, especially with college football fans waiting more than a decade for the franchise to return.

After months of anticipation, EA formally announced last week the game was set to be released in the summer of 2024. A full reveal of the upcoming video game will be unveiled in May. The official release date is expected to come in July, the same month previous games have been released.

In a teaser trailer released, EA showed development images of the gates at Beaver Stadium, the Gator head that Florida players touch when running onto the field at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium and Notre Dame players touching the “Play Like A Champion” sign.

All 134 FBS teams have opted into the game, too.

EA also announced the ESPN broadcast crew, which includes Kirk Herbstreit and Chris Fowler, among others. The transfer portal, which has dominated the sport with its one-time transfer rule recently, will also be included. NIL will play a role, too. With conference realignment and an expanded 12-team College Football Playoff, the game will surely have a different feel than NCAA 14, the last time the game was released.