What are the Odds on the Return of the NCAA Football Video Game?
ESPN recently conducted a poll on which sports game series fans would most like to see resurrected for a new installment.
While old favorites like NFL Street, NBA Street, SSX, Fight Night, MLB Slugfest, the NFL 2K series and MVP Baseball all got their fair share of love, it was never really going to be a contest once fans saw the NCAA Football series on the list.
What started out as Bill Walsh's College Football back in the 90s evolved into a phenomenon. Its release was a day marked on college football fans' calendars every year.
If you don't believe it, go try to find a copy of the last game produced - NCAA Football 14. It often sells for nearly the same price it did back when it was released.
There's still a cult of players who hold on to their now-outdated gaming systems to play the game every year and a dedicated underground of users providing yearly updates to keep the players list as modern as possible.
While some die-hards have been plugging in roster mods for the last seven years, we're all still pining for a new installment.
Just think of all the changes that have occurred in college football since the last game came out. All of the new developments in schemes on both sides of the ball.
We could see run-pass option plays added, hybrid defensive schemes with players playing an amalgam of different positions. A recruiting system that more resembles the process in 2020 and incorporates social media into its platform. And of course, gamers would finally be able to play through the College Football Playoff.
Many held out hope that all the recent developments in athletes' name, image and likeness would open the door for the game to return.
However, there are still major hurdles to overcome for that to happen. For one, the current NIL rules will restrict players from using the universities when it comes to making money off their names. In other words, Sam Ehlinger could be in a car commercial, but he couldn't wear his Texas jersey in it. This would likely mean players couldn't sell their image rights as a member of a college football team without getting the university itself involved.
Another hurdle is the absence of collective bargaining among NCAA athletes.
“Anticipating a question, it was the group’s conclusion that group licenses, which would combine school trademarks with student-athlete [name, image, and likeness] in products like video games, replica jerseys and trading cards collections are unworkable in college sports,” Big East commissioner and NIL working group co-chairperson Val Ackerman said in an NCAA news conference in April. “Largely because of the absence of the recognized bargaining agent to manage the curve of group NIL use on behalf of the student-athlete. The creation of a legal group license structure is a topic that may also be suitable for congressional intervention.”
In other words, it might literally take an act of congress to bring back the game. As it turns out, the highest legislative body in the land is current hashing out a national NIL standard as we speak. Sports Illustrated's Ross Dellenger reported on the proceedings last week.
Members of Power 5 conferences sent a statement to SI.
“The ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12 and SEC have been working together to encourage Congress to create a uniform national standard to allow student-athletes to seek payment for name, image, and likeness (NIL) licensing. The conferences are collaborating with members of Congress on developing legislative language to create NIL reform that is uniform, fair, and protects student-athletes.”
Amid all of the talks of restrictions on player compensation, the concept of a video game didn't come up yet. There's no doubt, however, that should the game return, it would be a blockbuster. Video games today are an even more lucrative business than they were seven years ago.
With all the money stood to be made by EA Sports, the universities and athletes themselves finally, it could just be a matter of time and logistics before we see the game return to the shelves.
What do you think?
Would you like to see the game return? If so, what features would you most want in a new version of NCAA Football?
