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EA Announces Confirmation of College Football Video Game

By Cameron Franck

LOUISVILLE, KY - SEPTEMBER 24: A Louisville Cardinals football is seen before the game against the South Florida Bulls at Cardinal Stadium on September 24, 2022 in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images)
LOUISVILLE, KY - SEPTEMBER 24: A Louisville Cardinals football is seen before the game against the South Florida Bulls at Cardinal Stadium on September 24, 2022 in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images) /
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Electronic Arts has confirmed their production of the college football video game that hasn’t seen the shelves since July 2013 with the release of NCAA Football 14. The excitement surrounding the game is giving life to football-loving millenials who grew up playing this game individually and with their friends.

The reason why the NCAA football video game franchise was shut down was because Electronic Arts produced the video game, made revenue off of it, but did not compensate the players in the video game that they were emulating. The video game did not use the players names, but would build the players with the numbers and skill sets of the actual players on the field.

A former UCLA basketball player, Ed O’Bannon, was the leader of the charge against the NCAA and eventually the Collegiate Licensing Company (CLC), taking these two to court as a part of a class-action lawsuit. O’Bannon and his team won, coming away with a settlement of $40 million for he and the other fellow players.

The continued production of this video game found itself between a rock and a hard place. The players were upset, and rightfully so, that these organizations were profiting off of their backs and they couldn’t receive any compensation. On the same hand, the NCAA would not allow players to make a profit off of their name while they were enrolled in school.

In summation, the players can’t make money, the NCAA doesn’t want them to make money, and therefore EA can’t make money. So the game shut down.

But now with the implementation of NIL (Name, Image, and Likeness) deals, the game is under production again set for release in the summer of 2023. An entire 10 years after the last game was released.

This is exciting for Louisville fans because the game releases the summer before the 2023 recruiting class takes the field for the first time but after these student-athletes will be enrolled at the University of Louisville. So, for those who purchase the game will get to create a dynasty with the Louisville Cardinals led by Pierce Clarkson, Rueben Owens, Madden Sanker, and company.

Or you will have the option to create your own player and play in high school aiming for a scholarship from the Cardinals. What an exciting time for this game to come out for Cardinal fans.

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