Back in late February 2021, Notre Dame said it would not participate in the newly announced EA Sports college football video game unless rules around name, image and likeness were finalized, allowing players to be in the game and be paid for it. While most FBS schools eventually confirmed their involvement since then, Notre Dame stayed quiet.
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Now nearly three years to the day since its warning, Notre Dame has confirmed to The Athletic that it will be in EA Sports College Football 25 this summer, as first teased in a clip last week.
“It’s great for all college football fans to have the game come back,” athletic director Jack Swarbrick said. “It’s long overdue, and I’m thrilled. It wouldn’t be college football if we weren’t in it, and I’m glad we found a way to be in it.”
Over the past three years, schools have submitted thousands of university assets to the video game company, from jerseys to stadium photos to audio and more. EA Sports has said this will be the most detailed and realistic college game ever released.
“We provided a host of different things, including 360-degree photos of all our rivalry trophies, photos of everything in the stadium, the tunnel down from the locker room,” Notre Dame senior associate athletic director Aaron Horvath said. “We’ve provided audio of our chants in the fourth quarter, different traditions. To say which ones are in the game, you’ll have to wait and see when the game is launched. But there’s a ton of stuff for EA to choose from in this first year. We’re excited about things we’ve heard about iterations moving forward, making some really new and improved things EA can do to bring a great game to everyone.”
Horvath remained coy about certain Fighting Irish traditions and jerseys, confirming only that Notre Dame had submitted its normal home and away uniforms.
“My main thing I’ll say, you’ll have to wait and see about potential collaborations with EA about future uniforms to use in the game,” he said.
Notre Dame’s conversations with EA over the past two years weren’t only about licensing imagery. Once the NCAA created NIL rules in summer 2021 around state laws, the door opened for discussions about player compensation and involvement.
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“You don’t have a game without them,” Swarbrick said of the players. “We thought it was really important, if we were going to participate, they needed to participate. We weren’t against the game. We want to make sure the athletes had a direct role.”
Notre Dame and EA Sports officials declined to share details on what athletes will be paid and when they can finally opt into the game, though it’s not expected to be a substantial amount with more than 11,000 players involved. With the NFL Draft deadline and signing day in the past, those details could be finalized soon, as rosters for the fall become clearer. Swarbrick said Notre Dame players are ecstatic about the game’s return and their involvement.
“We’ve been working closely with Notre Dame, and hundreds of other institutions, to authentically represent their programs, their traditions, and unique atmospheres — from stadiums to mascots to the name, image and likeness of athletes,” EA Sports said in a statement. “Notre Dame has been an outstanding partner, and we’re honored to bring the Blue & Gold to life in College Football 25.”
A full reveal of the game will come in May. Some other details are already known, per sources involved in the game. The game will be built on the Madden engine but won’t be a reskin of Madden. Dynasty Mode and Road to Glory will be the featured modes. A transfer portal is expected.
GO DEEPEREA Sports College Football: The rise, fall — and return — of a beloved video gameIt’s been 11 years since EA Sports last released a college football game, shutting it down due to fears of more litigation. Lawsuits over players’ NIL focused heavily on the video games, in which nameless players had the same numbers, measurables and hometowns of the real players. Former UCLA basketball player Ed O’Bannon, a plaintiff, said he didn’t want the game to stop — he just wanted players to be compensated. EA Sports also said in court filings that it was willing to pay players. But the NCAA wouldn’t allow it.
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Swarbrick said that was a mistake by the NCAA.
“This was a case where it was hard for us to understand why every other student on campus could exploit their name, image and likeness and student-athletes couldn’t,” he said.
The loss of the video game also cut off college football from a part of sports culture. Video games have always been a prime promotional tool for sports. Now it’s finally back, bringing the sport to a new generation of gamers.
“It plays a major role,” Swarbrick said. “It gives you the opportunity to learn about teams other than the one you root for. It gives you a broader perspective on the game, and that’s what we need in college football, right?”
(Top image: Screenshot of EA Sports trailer)
Chris Vannini covers national college football issues and the coaching carousel for The Athletic. A co-winner of the FWAA's Beat Writer of the Year Award in 2018, he previously was managing editor of CoachingSearch.com. Follow Chris on Twitter @ChrisVannini
