College Football 25 made an eye-popping $500 million in its first two weeks of launch. The game would ultimately rank second among the highest-selling video games of 2024, right behind Call of Duty Black Ops 6.
EA Sports Plans To Increase Players’ NIL Payments From $600 to $1,500 for College Football 26
If you’re an avid gamer and sports fan like me, I’m sure you played CF25. After an 11-year hiatus, college football returned to EA Sports, marking a historic year for football fans and gamers.
EA Sports will pay players $1,500 each in NIL for College Football 26 compared to 2025’s $600, per @ChrisVannini pic.twitter.com/vCv5EW0jdS
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) March 18, 2025
This game was special in many ways, from its outstanding ratings to updated graphics and gameplay. However, the main standout was the names on the backs of player jerseys.
With NIL rights in full effect, players were paid $600 for the use of their likeness, totaling $16.5 million overall. Now, that’s a lot of money, but considering how much revenue the game produced, it’s really just a small fraction in the grand scheme of things.
According to The Athletic‘s Chris Vannini, “Players will be paid a lot more money — In an email to Football Bowl Subdivision players sent Tuesday afternoon, EA Sports said it would increase players’ name, image, and likeness payments from $600 to $1,500 for their inclusion in the upcoming College Football 26 video game.”
In addition to the standard edition of the game, players will have the opportunity to receive an even larger compensation by serving as brand ambassadors for the deluxe edition.
EA Sports VP of Business Development Sean O’Brien released a statement explaining, “From the beginning, we’ve designed our NIL program to be accessible, direct, voluntary and equitable for all, offering the same base-level compensation to every FBS athlete that opts-in — This approach empowers each athlete to make their own decision. College sports are growing and changing, and our focus at EA Sports is on continuing to put athletes first as we bring them into the game in College Football 26 and beyond.”
KEEP READING: EA Sports College Football 26 Release Date
College Football 25 went on to become the highest-selling sports video game of all time; my money’s on 26 to top that.
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