Rice Thresher: Owls Prepare to be in EA SPORTS College Football
In the January 9, 2024 edition of The Rice Thresher (Rice University's Student Newspaper), Diego Palos Rodriguez visited with Rice’s associate athletic director of external affairs David Pillen to learn about how the Rice Owls were preparing to appear in this summer's release of EA SPORTS College Football. Prior to Rodriguez's article, Rice's status in the title was unknown. This would seemingly confirm the Owls will be licensed and represented in the game.
Pillen confirmed that the school has submitted assets requested by the CLC and EA including 'competition, stadium visuals, music, logos, uniform combinations from this past season, and brand taglines.' Worth noting is that Pillen disclosed that there have also been discussions regarding face scans for players, which he says have yet to happen. It is unknown to what extend teams or players will have scans in the game. (It is expected that facescans will not occur until players opt-in to the title and it is believed that those discussions/contracts have yet to take place as well.)
Some excerpts of the article:
According to Pillen, EA Sports and Rice have been in communication since early 2021 when EA Sports announced that it would be developing the game. EA Sports’ licensing partner, Collegiate Licensing Company, has also been involved in the communications along with technical and legal issues. This includes the payout tier that Rice qualified for, a number that has not been confirmed yet, and face scans for football players, which have not occurred yet according to Pillen.
“Rice has provided assets as requested from CLC and EA that include photos of competition, stadium visuals, music tracks for fight song and alma mater, athletic logos, uniform combinations, and brand taglines,” Pillen wrote. “Any uniform/helmet combination that was worn this past season was shared with EA Sports.”
“[The game is] a huge marketing resource for the Rice Owls brand that will organically allow us to reach a younger generation,” Pillen wrote.
(Hat tip: Matt Brown via Will Reiners.)
*****
Keep up with ALL the latest news, info, & discussion with our world famous EA SPORTS College Football News & Information Central page.
Share the link with your friends via e-mail & social networks with this convenient link: http://tgt.pw/eacfbinfo
*****
