College football players may hold out from EA Sports video game over NIL payments
At some point in the near future, EA Sports is going to release its College Football video game for the first time in a decade, and while fans will welcome the return of the game, some football players could decide to hold out for more money, something Oklahoma quarterback General Booty hinted at with his recent remarks.
"We've actually been talking about that in the locker room," Booty told On3 Sports when attending the INFLCR NIL Summit recently.
"We've talked about it because we want the game to come out, obviously. But we were saying if they come out and try to low-ball and say we want to give everyone $200. Well, guys, maybe Caleb Williams may say no and then he's not in the game. Then all the USC fans — who wants to buy the game and not play with him, you know?"
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Kansas quarterback Jalon Daniels agreed, saying that higher-profile players will naturally want to make more from the game than others.
"I can definitely see that," Daniels said of potential holdouts.
"Especially with the highest college football players that are in the nation right now. If they're getting paid as, you know, somebody who a lot of people really don't know of and they're the most known person in college football, I can definitely see their agent saying, 'Alright, what's going on here?'"
For the first time really since the inception of amateur football, players find themselves dealing with major leverage and bargaining power after the introduction of NIL, which gives them the ability to legally pocket money, often serious money, from endorsements and other projects, and naturally that market has consolidated around the nation's most popular players.
And if the offers don't reflect that market, then players could elect to opt out.
EA is reportedly ready to pay out $5 million total to players who opt in, a figure that would come out to roughly $500 per player, according to On3.
While that may not sound like a lot, it would still be welcome among many players who would be involved in the game as an opportunity to build their brands. Whether it's good enough for the most high-profile players remains to be seen.
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