How much will Iowa, Iowa State players get for appearing on EA Sports College Football 26?
EA Sports is releasing a new college football game this summer, and Iowa and Iowa State players featured on the game will receive a substantial raise for their name, image and likeness compared to last year's game.
The company brought back its college football video game franchise last year after over a decade-long hiatus, and players who appeared in the game received a deluxe copy and $600.
Players were sent notices this week asking them to confirm whether they'd like to be included in the upcoming release, EA Sports confirmed to USA TODAY Sports. If players accept, they will receive a deluxe edition of the game and a $1,500 payment.
Players can opt-out of the deal, and those who were in the previous version of the game will automatically be part of the new game and receive the NIL payment unless they choose to opt-out, according to USA TODAY.
How many college football players were in EA Sports College Football 25?
More than 11,000 players from all 134 Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) teams were included in College Football 25. This number of players is expected to be the same or slightly more for the next installment of the franchise.
Drake and UNI were not featured in EA Sports College Football 25 because they play at the Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) level.
How many Iowa and Iowa State players were in EA College Football 25?
Both Iowa and Iowa State had roughly 70 players on their rosters for EA College Football 25. If these numbers remain the same for the next game, each program can walk away with more than $100,000 paid to its players in NIL deals.
The average career NIL earnings for Division I football and men’s and women’s basketball players is more than $30,000, according to the NCAA. However, the average earnings across all sports for student-athletes is $1,338.
EA Sports plans to spend more than $16.5 million for the NIL rights of players this year, the largest single-sport NIL deal ever, according to The Athletic. This doesn't include the additional payments to ambassadors or cover athletes.
How successful was EA Sports College Football 25?
EA Sports College Football 25 was released last July and had more than 3 million active players on its release day, and by November, it became the best-selling sports game in U.S. history.
When does EA Sports College Football 26 come out?
An exact release date for the next version game hasn't been announced, but EA Sports said it would be "this summer."
Prior to the game's hiatus, the game typically came out in mid-July. EA Sports followed that trend with College Football 25 when it was released on July 19 and early access was available on July 15.
USA TODAY trending and breaking news reporter Jordan Mendoza contributed to this report.
Cooper Worth is a service/trending reporter for the Des Moines Register. Reach him at cworth@gannett.com or follow him on X @CooperAWorth.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa, ISU players get big NIL deals for EA Sports College Football 26
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