South Carolina football players will be able to opt in to upcoming EA Sports college football game
South Carolina football players who want to be in EA Sports new college football video game in 2024 will have the chance to do so.
Several reports broke on Wednesday that EA has contracted OneTeam Partners to facilitate college athletes’ likeness for the upcoming game.
ESPN’s Michael Rothstein first reported that news this morning with sources also confirming it to On3’s Pete Nakos.
GamecockCentral has also confirmed that South Carolina is one of the reportedly 120 schools that have committed to being in the game and have been exchanging digital assets featuring school traditions with EA to feature in the game.
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The players themselves will be able to opt-in or opt-out on an individual basis to their digital likeness being featured.
It was that same ESPN report that noted 120 FBS schools have said they’re in for the game and again we’re told South Carolina is one of them. All 10 FBS conferences and College Football Playoff have also agreed to be in the game, according to ESPN’s reporting.
Matt Brown of Extra Points has been arguably the premier source for news on the game and has well-documented for some time how EA is working with schools to collect assets such as photos and audio files of mascots, cheerleaders, uniforms, historic school items, and traditions. He also notes that EA has spent time taking new 3D scans of stadiums.
From what GamecockCentral is told, there’s constant communication between representatives of EA and schools about what assets are needed to provide an authentic playing experience for college football fans.
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As On3’s Nakos points out, OneTeam has been uniquely situated to win the contract as it’s become a major player in the college NIL space and partnered with Fanatics last February in the deal that allowed players to be compensated for school-licensed jerseys with their names on the back.
As for what players might stand for benefit from opting into the game, ESPN’s article said — citing the EA representative — that the goal is for the payments to be “as inclusive and equitable as possible.”
Nakos, however, cited a source saying the cash pool was in the $5 million neighborhood, which would potentially pay out to $500 per player, though he also acknowledged that the deal is not finalized and that specifics are still foggy at this time.
But what isn’t foggy is that the game will soon be returning to the college football landscape.
The old NCAA games, before they were shut down due to the O’Bannon lawsuit, garnered a cult following among the college football ethos with some fans still updating the rosters to the final NCAA 2014 game while continuing to play it to this day.
While all of the details are still being worked out, the proper steps are being taken now for Gamecock fans to be able to run out of the virtual tunnel at Williams-Brice Stadium when the game launches in the summer of 2024 — and for college football players to be rightfuly compensated for being in the game.
