Is Player Licensing an Uphill Battle for EA SPORTS College Football?
Andy Wittry & On3 spoke with nine FBS players at the INFLCR NIL Summit held in Nashville last week and asked their thoughts on what fair compensation would be for players to appear in EA SPORTS College Football. In the article, the majority of players seemed to be pleased with the hypothetical $500 amount, however the premise of the article ('potential holdouts') was framed on select quotes from a few players.
Based on quotes from Oklahoma quarterback General Booty, it did not appear he or his teammates were familiar with the $500 amount being bandied about: "We’ve actually been talking about that in the locker room. So, we’ve all talked about it because we want the game to come out, obviously. But we were saying if they come out and try to lowball and say we want to give everyone $200. Well, guys maybe like, like you mentioned Caleb Williams, may say no and then he’s not in the game. Then all the USC fans – who wants to buy the game and not play with him, you know?" It is expected that top players may be compensated more, perhaps in return for helping to market the title.
Similar quotes from Kansas quarterback Jalon Daniels came in response to a reporter asking if such holdouts were possible. The sub-headline screamed about potential 'mass holdouts' while his quote dealt solely with the "highest college football players that are in the nation right now."
One day after Wittry's On3 article was posted, the College Football Players Association released a statement that 'every past, present, and future college football player should boycott the deal.' CFBPA vice-president Justin Falcinelli claimed that a current NFL player told him that they had received $28,000 for appearing in Madden NFL 23. Extra Points with Matt Brown's Matt Brown shared on Twitter he has heard from three sources that NFL players make no where near that amount for appearing in Madden, rather that number is for *all* NFL group license payouts.
It is unknown what percentage of FBS players are members of the CFBPA. A very unscientific approach, but the official Twitter account for the group has only 359 followers as of writing this news story. It seems possible that the Association's request for a boycott of EA SPORTS College Football could be primarily to increase awareness and membership of the group.
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Sources:
June 6, 2023 - On3: Players suggest potential holdouts over NIL payouts for EA Sports College Football by Andy Wittry
June 7, 2023 - On3: College Football Players Association organizing boycott of 2024 EA Sports video game by Pete Nakos
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