Could A College Football Video Game Be Making A Return Soon?
Who doesn’t remember the countless hours logged playing the beloved NCAA football franchise from EA Sports(RIP)? Heck, to date myself a bit do you remember the college basketball game? Give me that over 2k any day of the week.
For those who may have been wondering where the games went, it was determined that EA Sports, or any game maker for that matter, couldn’t produce the game because of the likeness of the players in the game to their real-life counterparts. The video game companies had no problem paying the players a sum for using their “likeness” in the game but in stepped the big bad NCAA amateurism rule.
The NCAA has long been firm on the idea that if someone plays college sports, they can’t profit off of their image, likeness, or ability. Todd Gurley and Johnny Manziel both got suspended for selling autographed pictures. Well, this whole idea might change.
On Tuesday, the NCAA announced the formation of a committee that will look into the possibility of allowing players to profit off their name and image.
What this means for the fans….
We get out games back!
They were taken away from us when former UCLA basketball player brought a federal lawsuit against the NCAA for their role in profiting off of players images and names. Since the courts ruled in his favor, EA had to shut down production of the NCAA football series in 2014.
Everyone misses the game. The fans. The players. Shit, even Kirk Herbstreit.
So @OSU_AD if all goes well is there a chance we get our NCAA Football video game back?!? Just asking for a few 100k friends that have missed the game desperately for 5 years—including former and current players. Haha!! Be a hero! https://t.co/TE988flpax
— Kirk Herbstreit (@KirkHerbstreit) May 14, 2019
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Is this likely to get done soon? No. The NCAA may be the one governing body slower than the government itself. Even if they did approve it there would still be hurdles to clear, like how to compensate the players, and how much. It may not happen next year, or even the year after, but make no mistake, this is a great step forward into the return of arguably the greatest sports video game series.
P.S-If you know where I can find updated rosters for this season on NCAA 14 let me know(XBOX 360)
-Dillon Leary