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

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.

Here is an article from ND Insider with more on Notre Dame's stance and how they have been pushing the NCAA for proper NIL rules for six years: https://www.ndinsider.com/football/t...43d3de5a7.html

They seem to forget that some of us have played the game before as State College, Provo and Tallahassee. Personally, I look forward to playing the new game as Indiana Catholic. Should be a fun time.

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Originally Posted by razorback44

They seem to forget that some of us have played the game before as State College, Provo and Tallahassee. Personally, I look forward to playing the new game as Indiana Catholic. Should be a fun time.

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It was South Bend if memory serves

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Originally Posted by CLW

It was South Bend if memory serves

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You’re right on that. I completely forgot they also weren’t in the Bill Walsh version by name. So it’ll be a nice retro throwback to leave them out again. :D

https://i.ibb.co/8BNFYTD/6-D9137-F7-...21-A187-DC.jpg

As of 3/2/2021, here is the latest count on which teams are in, out, or undecided:

TGT Team Tracker (As of 3/10/2021)

• IN (37) - Air Force, Ball State, Boise State, Bowling Green, Buffalo, Central Michigan, Charlotte, Clemson, Coastal Carolina, Colorado, Colorado State, Eastern Michigan, Florida State, Georgia Southern, Illinois, Kansas State, Liberty, Miami, Michigan, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico State, North Carolina, NC State, Penn State, Pitt, San Jose State, Toledo, Troy, UAB, UConn, UNLV, USF, Utah, West Virginia, Western Kentucky, Western Michigan
• OUT (6) - Fresno State, Northwestern, Notre Dame, TCU, Tulane, Wisconsin
• UNDECIDED (12) - Appalachian State, BYU, Duke, Georgia, Hawaii, Kentucky, Middle Tennessee, Missouri, Rice, Texas A&M, USC, Washington State
• STATUS UNKNOWN (75 FBS programs)

* - Credit on team tracking goes to The Athletic, Matt Brown, Nathan Bond (USF)

Fresno State announces they will stay on the sidelines until NIL rules & regulations are put in place.

Standing with our student-athletes. A statement on the return EA Sports NCAA football. pic.twitter.com/JnTSuozzrK

— Fresno State Bulldogs (@FSAthletics) March 5, 2021

Georgia in the undecided list:

Another big name to add to this list:

Georgia tells me this morning that they have also not made a decision about participation

— Matt Brown (@MattBrownEP) March 8, 2021

TCU seemingly in the 'out until NIL rules' category:

statement from TCU:

“As we continue to closely monitor the name, image and likeness landscape, TCU’s participation in the return of EA Sports College Football is currently on hold.

— Matt Brown (@MattBrownEP) March 8, 2021

* Though, the 'undecided' list is basically a non-committing way of schools to say they are out.


In the latest TGT Podcast, JB & I speculated that Alabama, Georgia, and Ohio State would likely not join College Football until NIL in place since they never appeared as a playable/selectable college in Madden the last few years. It seems to be a safe assumption EA would have tried to get all of them in at some point.

TGT Team Tracker (As of 3/10/2021)

• IN (37) - Air Force, Ball State, Boise State, Bowling Green, Buffalo, Central Michigan, Charlotte, Clemson, Coastal Carolina, Colorado, Colorado State, Eastern Michigan, Florida State, Georgia Southern, Illinois, Kansas State, Liberty, Miami, Michigan, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico State, North Carolina, NC State, Penn State, Pitt, San Jose State, Toledo, Troy, UAB, UConn, UNLV, USF, Utah, West Virginia, Western Kentucky, Western Michigan
• OUT (6) - Fresno State, Northwestern, Notre Dame, TCU, Tulane, Wisconsin
• UNDECIDED (12) - Appalachian State, BYU, Duke, Georgia, Hawaii, Kentucky, Middle Tennessee, Missouri, Rice, Texas A&M, USC, Washington State
• STATUS UNKNOWN - 75 FBS schools.

The Athletic has put together a team tracker by conference and it's really interesting that NONE of the SEC schools have responded either way. Kentucky, Missouri Texas A&M put out a statement saying they are undecided or just no answer either way, but no one from the conference is officially or publicly 'in' or 'out' right now. The teams in that conference really do stick together like no other in college football.

Michigan has moved from the 'undecided' category to 'in.'

The publicly known 'out' and 'undecided' total 18 schools currently. If EA had 100+ schools tentatively locked in as of February 2, that would mean <30 schools were 'out'/'undecided' on that date. Unless there were a wave of defections, it *might* be safe to assume all but 10 or so of the unknowns are actually 'in.'

The next big question I've yet to see outlets pursue is: What conferences have signed on? (EA will need to get permission for use of the Big Ten, SEC, et al. branding.) That question could also apply to stadiums and bowls, but I would argue the conferences are *almost* as important as schools. Stadiums and bowls not as much IMHO. EA could probably get away with generics for those in year one, if need be.

In the last few days, TCU now says they will be in the game (previously said their participation was 'on hold') and Indiana is now confirmed as being included after submitting 800+ photos to EA.