The College Football Players Association isn’t all too unlike the NFL Players Association in many ways. However, in many other ways, it differs greatly.
What is the College Football Players Association?
Founded behind a simple mission statement, the College Football Players Association is intended to give college football players a voice within their sport. Valued in their love for the sport, the CFBPA seeks to improve all aspects of the sport for the players themselves.
As read by their mission statement, the CFBPA is led by its members.
“The College Football Players Association was founded to represent past, present and future college football players nationwide. The CFBPA will make sure that college football players everywhere are finally organized to have a collective voice in the decision making within their sport. The CFBPA is dedicated to being a member-led organization of, by and for the players.”
The values of the CFBPA also insist on change through the organized movement of this member-led organization.
“Meaningful change must and can only be accomplished through an organized movement of current, former, and future college football players,” the CFBPA values page reads.
When did the College Football Players Association Start?
The CFPBA Vision is summed up in three unique phases. Starting with Phase 1, the CFBPA began accumulating members in July of 2021. That is when any former, current, or even future college football player in the United States was eligible to join.
Phase 1’s initial plan was to “grow their membership base as large as possible” while they also looked to develop a Leadership Committee.
Following Phase 1, the CFBPA instituted Phase 2 that has spanned since July of 2022 into the 2023 calendar year. Stated as an “extensive surveying” of their members, the CFBPA has attempted to create a platform for change.
“The CFBPA platform will let the world of college football know the collective demands of the players on every issue in the game,” the CFBPA values state.
Following Phase 2’s culmination, the third part of their three-phase plan intends on improving the lives of each of the CFBPA’s members. Phase 3 encompasses all walks of life for a member and will look to create local chapters at any institution where one may be desired.
“The chapter will have a representative from the national organization … will work and advocate for players within that chapter who elect their own PA leadership,” the values continued.
What does the College Football Players Association Do?
Making headway in the summer of 2023 for the first time, the CFBPA broke out on the national stage with the news that they would seek to organize a boycott of the 2024 EA Sports college football video games.
With the expected payout for athletes that opted into the video game sitting at $500, the CFBPA made waves when it stated that is a “ridiculously low” amount for the atletes to be paid for the video game.
This all comes from the institution of the Name, Image, Likeness deal in college athletics from 2021. With the NIL set in place, EA Sports was set to re-debut their popular college football video game and was offering a payout for any current athlete that opted into the video game and allow their image and likeness to be portrayed.
MORE: What is NIL?
The CFBPA has put their stamp on the college football world already and will continue to better the lives of current, former, and future college football players.
