Thoughts on EA's "Gifts" to use College Athletes NIL

Now that the NCAA Football game is officially coming out this summer, I read today that every team is involved. There is also the portal, NIL, recruiting, all the good stuff that I want in this game. This is all good news. But, I did read that players have to opt in if they want their name, image and likeness involved. I get it. It makes sense. If you are to be represented in this game, I'd figure you'd want it to look as real as possible. It would also be pretty darn cool to see yourself in a video game. I know I'd go crazy over that. All this makes sense.

What I have an issue with is the kickback from the people at EA. If a player opts in they will be given a copy of the game and 600 dollars. That all sounds very good on paper. You get a nice upfront payment and a free video game. But as I sat here today with my thoughts, I went more in depth and realized this is kind of a slap to these players. I mean, most of the players that opt in are already making much, much more than 600 bucks in the NIL world. Also, I am pretty sure that is a one time payment. It is not like they will see that money time and time again. For every fan that purchases and plays this game this summer, and for future releases, 600 dollars is chump change. These players are going to have all of their info put into this game and it only costs EA 600 dollars? That is robbery. They are going to have their face on my video screen? That should be way more than 600 bucks. I am going to buy a new system to play the game when it comes out because I do not have a system that can support this game. The two separate systems I'm looking at are in the high 400, low 500 dollar range. So I'm to believe that if a college athlete opts in, gets the 600 dollars, but has to buy a new system, they are left with 100 dollars. That is asinine. I'd, at the very least, double that money. We all know that EA has way more than that to hand out. And then they are given a copy of the game? Again, sounds fine on paper, but do these athletes really care about that? If I were to guess, this game will be around 80 dollars to buy. Great, they are saving a net total of 100 dollars by not having to buy the game if they need a new console. This is like a second thought of a gift. It feels like EA was thinking, well, 600 dollars isn't quite enough, why don't we just give them a free copy of the game? And the geniuses that work in the front office must have thought that the person that came up with that idea was the ultimate genius. They are not. This is damn near the least they could do in this scenario. And I get that they could have to hand out a big, big amount of money, but they have it, and then some. And having to give out free video games may look like it will be a bunch of money on paper, but think of all the people that are going to be buying this game as long as they continue to make it.

I have all kinds of internal issues with this, but I am going to get every new version that comes out when they come out. And I'm not a gamer. I couldn't care less about video games, except this one. EA can, and should do better by these kids. They are playing a game that is incredibly dangerous. I get it is a choice, but the vast majority of these kids are going to make their money with NIL. A good portion will not be pros, and even if they do, even more of them will not see the riches that some other football players have reached during their careers. They need to give more. They need to up the pot. Six hundred dollars is a drop in the bucket. And a free video game is a total afterthought. More consideration should have been put into this decision. But, here we are. I'm interested to see the reaction from the players. It could get spicy. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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EA College Football is Coming Back and So is my Excitement to Play It.

Yesterday while looking at the sports news, I happened upon a story that commented on the process of the new EA College Football game.

I have said on the podcast and the website how I am not much of a video game guy. I just do not get them or I get bored too easily by them. I am also not very good at most video games. I just do not have that part of my brain that helps you to be good at them. It is not my thing. But I do love the older EA College Football game. I was also pretty good at it. RD can attest to as much. I love college football anyway, so a video game is just another extension for me. It was cool to play as my all time favorite sports team, the Michigan Wolverines. To see their helmets and The Big House on my TV screen through a video game, even I have to admit, that was cool. So this was one video game that I took my time with. And I got good. I figured stuff out. I found plays that worked on offense and defense. I had dynasties that were unstoppable. I had the goods. So when it went away, I was bummed. I bought the last version they made, with Denard Robinson on the cover, and played it until it couldn't be played anymore. Then when I got a newer Xbox, I bought older versions of the game and played the hell out of those. I kept at it. But one day it was totally off the internet. It was no more. The game didn't exist. They had copycat versions, versions they tried to make like the real version, but none of them worked. I bought Doug Flutie's game, which was trash. I found some other college football adjacent games, those were trash. I tried Madden, that never changes, and is kind of trash. So I decided to switch to NBA 2k on my son's Switch. That game is cool, it is fun and easy to play, but it is not EA College Football. I even get bored with NBA 2k. So this news that they are targeting a summer release of a new version of the classic EA game, well I am ecstatic.

None of this would be possible without the NIL either. NIL is one of the best things to come out of college athletics in forever. It is letting these kids finally profit off their likeness, as they should have been able to forever. And without it, the EA College Football game would not even be a topic of discussion. Now it is. Now it seems real. Now it seems like I only have to wait about 18 months to play a game again. I cannot believe it. And with NIL that means we will get not only the real players' image, but their real names also. In the past the players kind of looked like the real version of themselves, but the names were auto generated. I could have gone in and put the real names in there, but that would have taken way too much time and effort. Now I won't have to. With the NIL, all of the players will have their real name in the game if they want. I also think that the college athletes are going to think it will be pretty cool to see themselves in a game. I know I would freak out if I was in their situation.

This all seems so real and so soon and so cool. I hope it comes to fruition. I hope nothing happens to screw this up. I don't want the NCAA to get their grubby hands on this video game. I really miss playing that game, and with it looking like it is going to come back, I simply cannot wait. This is good news for me and a lot of other college football fans. Now we just have to wait a little bit longer. Hopefully.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

Come and support Ty and the podcast on Patreon.

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SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.