Notre Dame will not join EA SPORTS College Football Until NIL Rules Established

[cdj]

When EA SPORTS announced that EA SPORTS College Football was in development on February 2 they stated that over 100 schools were on-board at that time. However, today one of the remaining holdouts, Notre Dame, has announced they will not participate in the game until players can be rewarded for name/image/likeness (NIL) usage.

Statement from University VP and AD Jack Swarbrick on EA Sports College Football video game series and continued support of our student-athletes and NIL:

➡️ https://t.co/Ta2wxDNNtI#GoIrish pic.twitter.com/WZZj0sJ4Hk

— The Fighting Irish (@FightingIrish) February 22, 2021

While the initial news that a traditional power in college football with not be included in the title is discouraging, keep in mind that the game is years away from release and NIL rules/legislation could be established in the meantime. Such a proper agreement for player NIL usage would likely see the Irish return to the title.

However, we do not expect Notre Dame to be the only school taking this stance and this may lead to more of the holdouts making their stance publicly known sooner than later.