NCFAA Opts Out of EA Sports College Football 25
EA Sports College Football 25 will fill a void for millions of college football fans that has existed for over a decade, finally bringing a licensed video game based on the sport back into the spotlight.
EA will have a full reveal of the game sometime in May and a release is expected in July, meaning that there are just weeks left until we get to see the game that we’ve all been waiting for.
However, there is one major entity in college football that has decided it doesn’t want to be a part of the excitement. According to Pete Nakos of On3, the National College Football Awards Association (NCFAA) has declined an offer to be represented in the game, per the association’s president, Mark Wolpert.
“The offer that has been made is not adequate for the rights fee for the awards,” Wolpert said.
So, what does this mean for the consumer? Fans who play modes like Road to Glory and Dynasty will not be able to win some of the real-life trophies associated with the NCFAA.
Trophies included in the list are:
- Bednarik Award (Defensive Player of the Year)
- Belitnikoff Award (Wide Receiver of the Year)
- Davey O’Brien Award (Quarterback of the Year)
- Doak Walker Award (Running Back of the Year)
- Lou Groza Award (Placekicker of the Year)
- Jim Thorpe Award (Defensive Back of the Year)
- Maxwell Award (Player of the Year)
- Outland Award (Interior Lineman of the Year)
- Ray Guy Award (Punter of the Year)
It is worth noting that the Heisman Trophy, which is not a part of the NFCAA, is still expected to be in the game.
While Wolpert declined to give a specific number on the EA’s offer, he did tell On3 that it was a “nominal increase based on the 2014 number.”
“It was not something that was representative of any either major awards, assigning image rights and usage rights to a game which we all believe is going to be very popular and going to sell a lot of copies based on past history,” Wolpert said. “And if brands are going to be represented there, we want to be compensated properly. So when I explained that to the EA rep, the response came back to me that if we choose not to do that, they’ll just make their own awards up and put them in the game.
“My thought at that time was, ‘Well, you have approached us about the importance of authenticity in the game, yet you’re very quick to dismiss awards, some of which have existed for eight decades. So how is the game authentic when you don’t have the authentic awards in it?’”
While the NFCAA and its awards aren’t expected to be in the game now, there is still an opportunity for the to opt-in in the future. However, according to Wolpert, an EA representative said recently that even if the entity did opt-in now, the awards would not be ready to go in-game by the time it launches in July.
With nearly 90% of the players in college football already opted-in — the only notable omission being Arch Manning — it appeared that everything was going perfectly for EA Sports, who is aiming to provide an authentic college football experience. Now, that will be a little bit tougher as some of the biggest awards in the game will be omitted.
While Wolpert was adamant that the door isn’t closed for the awards to be in the game at a later date, he told On3 that it came down to a “business” decision.
“It’s really no different than what is going on with the players and their compensation. I mean, we have a number that we feel is a very fair number for EA,” he said. “To be frank with you, what our ask was, was at a level that would be rounding level to a game that’s going very likely to sell millions of copies at a $70 sale price point. There was definitely margin to pay the right fees that we should be able to ask for for that.”
