Could We See The Return Of College Football Video Games?

It was one of the biggest video games on the planet, but issues in sports forced it out, but could we see a return of the incredibly popular NCAA college football video game?

EA Sports caught lightning in a bottle and ruled the world of video games with their NCAA College Football, basketball, and even to and extent baseball games.

The addiction of sports fans to the college football game began in 1993 when EA first introduced Bill Walsh College Football, named after the NFL Hall of Fame coach and architect of the San Francisco 49ers dynasty teams. The game series kept his name until EA eventually acquired the licensing rights to the NCAA name and officially rechristened the line with the release of NCAA Football 98.      

The games were a huge success both with gamers and financially, which would prove to be the beginning of the end for the game. 

In July 2013, the NCAA announced that it would not renew its licensing contract with Electronic Arts because of an ongoing legal dispute over the use of player likenesses in the games. That contract, however, only covered the use of the NCAA name and related logos, not those of individual schools and conferences. Those contracts were negotiated by the respective schools individually or through the Collegiate Licensing Company. 

It was announced that the series would continue to run through 2017, where EA Sports could continue the series without the NCAA branding, and plans were for EA Sports to continue the line under the old College Football name.

However, the series was placed on hiatus in September 2013, following three major conferences pulling their trademark licenses for the series from EA Sports. Uncertainties surrounding the results of lawsuits involving the use of player likenesses in-game drove the universities and conferences to this decisions, leaving fans of the games upset. 

In 2020, with the Coronavirus pandemic stopping sports in their entirety and leaving fans desperate for their return, and with the NCAA  is now considering new legislation to allow student-athletes to profit from their name, image, and likeness (NIL) the door could reopen for the series return. 

Sports Illustrated's Ross Dellenger released an in-depth article on the licensing and other issues surrounding the possible return of the series, which is well worth the read. 

"What would it take for a video game like NCAA Football to return?" Dellenger asked in the article. That's a question fans of the game have been asking for years.     

"Last week, the NCAA made it even more complex. The governing body’s long-awaited report on athlete compensation, while lifting some amateurism principles, kept intact remnants of a bygone era, introducing restrictions on how players can profit from their name, image and likeness (NIL). Among the most notable, athletes cannot partner with schools for NIL ventures, use school or conference logos in such endeavors and are barred from entering group licensing deals. The restrictions, only recommendations at this point, would prevent the return of college video games while also making near impossible the wide distribution of trading cards and memorabilia like jerseys."

The NCAA remains poised to stand in the way, but in a world driven by the all-mighty dollar should someone place the right amount of Franklins in front of them, the boys in Indy might just see their way clear to change some of that wording and move over enough for this to happen. 

It could be a while because of potential legal hurdles, but at least there is some hope that fans might once again be able to play NCAA College Football 2021-22-23-24 and beyond.  

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