Many, including myself, were extremely happy when EA Sports announced they would be bringing back their NCAA College Football game.
Getting a dynasty started with Ohio State and having them dominate was a passion for many, but today’s news is making it seem like the return of playing college football is bleak.
On3 reports that the College Football Players Association will most likely organize a boycott of the game. The main reason is compensation for the players, which was reported to be just $500.
Let’s dig into this a bit more and see if it’s fair or not. With 130 teams and 85 scholarship players, that would be $5,525,000 total payout by EA Sports to the athletes. Their top game sold in 2022 was Call of Duty, but for our sake, let’s take a look at Madden NFL 2023.
The College Football Players Association is organizing a boycott of the 2024 EA Sports CFB game, @Pete_Nakos96 reports😳
The payout for athletes is expected to be $500.
"They should not opt into it. It is just a ridiculously low amount of money."https://t.co/6Xnn3iBNhX pic.twitter.com/NX2Km7gHpx
— On3 (@On3sports) June 7, 2023
According to Old School Gamers, Madden ‘23 made an estimated $600 million for EA Sports in 2022. So let’s be conservative and say that a college football game would make two-thirds of that, so $400 million.
EA Sports would pay the players just 1.3% of the total revenue in this scenario. There obviously are other costs, but playing the players such a small amount just isn’t fair.
It’s completely understandable if the Players Association opts for this route. The players deserve better.
Contact/Follow us @BuckeyesWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Ohio State news, notes, and opinion. Follow Michael Chen on Twitter.
