The most anticipated moment of the 2024 college football preseason is fast approaching with fans getting ready to play EA Sports College Football 25 as the video game will be back on the market for the first time in more than a decade.
Now, the game has reached an important milestone ahead of its landmark July 19 release, as Electronic Arts has collected more than 14,000 players who have elected to opt into the game, according to On3 Sports.
That number surpasses the expected 10,000 athletes who EA wanted to take part in its effort to build a more realistic game that includes having 85-man rosters for all 134 FBS football teams.
OneTeam Partners, the firm that organizes licensing rights for college and pro athletes, has been managing the NIL rights between college football players and EA.
Athletes taking part in the game will receive $600 each and a copy of the game.
More: EA Sports College Football 25 team rankings by tier
More on CFB 25: Trailer | Release Date | Player Rating Predictions | Team Rankings Projections | Deep Dive Video
EA Sports last issued its popular college football video game more than a decade ago, back in 2013, after which the company announced that it was discontinuing the game.
That decision followed a court ruling that forced EA Sports to pay compensation to athletes who had previously been included in the product but were not paid.
Then, after the creation of the new NIL rules two years ago, EA went public by announcing that the game would return at some point in the future.
After a long wait, and with many intriguing previews, the future is closer now than ever before.
(On3)
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More college football from SI: Top 25 Rankings | Schedule | Teams