EA Sports is offering to pay athletes $1,500 to appear in the upcoming College Football 26 video game. The amount offered here more than doubles what players received last year. Before EA Sports published College Football 25, there was a long-going issue about player compensation, with some even threatening to boycott the game entirely. But after the success of College Football 25, it seems everyone will get a bigger piece of the pie moving forward.
How Much Will EA Sports Pay For Players To Be In College Football 26?
EA Sports has revealed that players will receive $1,500 for appearing in EA Sports College Football 26. This marks a $900 increase over the previous year. Additionally, players also receive a free copy of the game’s deluxe edition. The news comes from Chris Vannini of The Athletic.
In a statement from EA Sports Vice President of Business development Sean O’Brien, he spoke about their NIL program. “From the beginning,” he said, “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 using the OneTeam platform and COMPASS NIL app. 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 in the game in College Football 26 and beyond.”
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The increase isn’t too surprising, considering the success of College Football 25. Back in December, it became the all-time best-selling sports game in US history (dollar sales). It marked the first NCAA Football game since NCAA Football 14 (2013). But College Football 25 actually features real players, something you couldn’t do in NCAA 14 unless you downloaded a roster or a mod.
In fact, College Football 25 featured over 14,000* real players in the game. Assuming there’s a similar number of players in 26, EA Sports is spending quite the sum of money. In total, the company is spending over $16 million in player NIL alone. And that’s not including the fact that each player receives a free copy of the game’s $100 Deluxe Edition. Furthermore, players who serve as brand ambassadors receive even more money.
Depending on the success of the series, there’s a chance these numbers could get higher. But in order for that to happen, the series needs to continue to grow. Will 26 be able to match the sales of last year’s product, which built over a decade’s worth of hype?
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