How Much is EA Sports Paying Teams And Players To Have Them In The New NCAA 25 Video Game?

The Demand For A New NCAA Football Video Game

Let me set the scene, the stakes are high between Michigan vs Michigan State football, the game is being played on a crisp fall October day. However there is just one catch, this game isn’t being played in the Big House nor Spartan Stadium, instead, it’s going down between my best friend and I in my basement and tensions couldn’t be any higher. The joy and excitement NCAA 14 Football gave myself and so many others has been unmatched for the past 11 years. Throughout this hiatus so many have wanted one thing, a new NCAA Football video game to be released. On July 1, 2021, the NCAA would make a monumental decision, ruling players eligible to make money based on their name, image, and likeness.

Since then, athletes from all around the country have been able to bring in money for themselves and their family while still attending college or even high school. Many brands and companies were yearning for the day they’d be able to use the country's most decorated college athletes to promote and advertise for them. However, no company was waiting for that day as eagerly as EA Sports.

Logistics And Spending To Make This Happen

The work it took to get to July 1, 2021 was immense, but for EA Sports the real work had just begun. Wanting to recreate the iconic NCAA Football games spanning from the first of its kind in 1993, to all the way before the latest one in 2014, EA Sports wanted to include all 134 FBS teams and fit in as many players into the game as they could.

Teams would be split up into tiers ranging from 1-4 based on how well they did, not only in the previous season, but seasons prior.

• Tier 1: $99,875.16 (13 teams)= $1,298,377.08

• Tier 2: $59,925.09 (41 teams)= $2,456,928.69

• Tier 3: $39,950.06 (26 teams)= $1,038,701.56

• Tier 4: $9,987.52 (54 teams)= $539,326.08

• Total: $5,333,333.41 (134 teams)

Via James Park of Sports Illustrated

Image via Cllct

Not only did EA Sports have to pay over $5.3 million to FBS teams, but you also have to take into account the $600 (not including cover athletes) they paid to each player on those teams, plus a free copy of the $70 game. With about 85 players on each team and 134 teams being included in the game, EA had to pay around 11,390 college football players and offer a free copy of the game to them. Calculating all of that, in NIL deals and obtaining the rights to having these teams in the game, EA spent roughly $6,834,000 plus giving out $797,300 worth of copies of the game to players. All in all, to have teams and their players in the game, EA Sports spent somewhere in the ballpark of $12,964,633.40 to make this game happen (not including other expenses, only the ones provided).

The Real Reason Why

With so much time and especially money needed to be put into this game, was it really all worth it? Well, according to EA’s press release on the game’s release date (July 19,2024), over 2.2 million people bought the game. That number doesn't include the amount of people who pre ordered the deluxe edition of the game where users could play before the official launch date. Since then that number has kept on skyrocketing, becoming one of the most played video games today in America.

Above all else, what this game is doing for the players in it, is so much more than what players in the past could’ve imagined. From the tier 4 teams, to the tier 1 teams, whether you’re the starting quarterback or the last player to make the team, each and every player now has their name out there. Though it seems small, getting $600, the ability to play a video game as yourself that millions of others are playing, and what it is doing for every single player's personal brand, is what truly makes it all worth it.

Citations:

EA Sports press release on the day of the games launch (July 19,2024), where EA stated how many people purchased and played the game on that initial day:

Alexander, Will, and Nathan Edwards. Electronic Arts Inc. EA - BRING GLORY HOME IN EA SportsTM College Football 25, Available Everywhere Today, 19 July 2024, ir.ea.com/press-releases/press-release-details/2024/Bring-Glory-Home-in-EA-SPORTS-College-Football-25-Available-Everywhere-Today/default.aspx.

The image showing where each college is in the tier list:

“X.Com.” X (Formerly Twitter), 25 May 2024, x.com/cllctMedia/status/1794541083189248493?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1794541083189248493%7Ctwgr%5E2d8af50a221f27eeab1bc5e5019a217a1b8c458d%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.si.com%2Ffannation%2Fcollege%2Fcfb-hq%2Fea-sports-college-football-25-team-rankings-by-tier.

Where I got the tier list and money that went with it:

Parks, James. “EA Sports College Football 25 Team Rankings by Tier.” CFB-HQ On SI, Sports Illustrated, 31 May 2024, www.si.com/fannation/college/cfb-hq/ea-sports-college-football-25-team-rankings-by-tier.