Some major news from the world of gaming as Notre Dame, one of the largest and most well-known universities in America is opting out of EA Sports College Football.
In an announcement on Monday, University athletic director Jack Swarbrick said that the school won’t provide its names, logos, and other branding to EA Sports for the new game. Citing a lack of Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) agreements that determine if student athletes are able to profit off their inclusion.
“As those rules are developed, it is our strong desire that student-athletes be allowed to benefit directly from allowing their name, image and performance history to be used in the game,” Swarbrick said in his statement.
Now, this doesn’t mean Notre Dame for sure won’t appear in the game. If, some how, the NCAA reaches an NIL agreement that allows players earn a cut of the game’s profits, then things could change rather quickly. The NCAA has stated that it will be revisiting its rules to allow college athletes the ability make money while remaining eligible.
For that to happen, it’s likely that student-athletes would have to be able to negotiate collectively much like professional athletes, which adds another wrinkle to the whole “amateur athlete” argument.
Getting the students what they deserve
The NCAA is dead set against a union because, as mentioned above, it drastically changes things when label the students as amateurs. As far as those rule changes go, it was supposed to be revisited in January, but was delayed indefinitely in order to try and find middle ground.
Still, as of now, EA Sports College Football won’t include any form of player likeness, but many schools will still provide their name, logos, stadiums, and uniforms for use. With one of the largest institutions opting out, however, it’ll be interesting to see if any other major school decides to follow suit.
Though, it may be tougher for other schools to do so due to being part of larger conferences whereas Notre Dame is still an independent program despite playing in the ACC during the abbreviated 2020 season.
For now, we’ll wait and see what schools and conferences will participate in the game whether or not an NIL agreement is reached. That final announcement, though, is likely to still be a year or more away.
What do you think of Notre Dame opting out of EA Sports College Football? Do you think something will change between now and the game’s release? Let us know in the comment section below, and stick with Sports Gamers Online for more.