Here's everything, including some new stuff, that I've learned about EA Sports College Football

Good evening, and thanks for your continued support of Extra Points.

One of the most rewarding things about running this newsletter is that I never really know where my reporting is going to take me.

A few open record requests here, a few phone calls there, and suddenly, a newsletter that was mostly built to cover things like conference realignment, NIL, licensing revenue, and athletics reform…is now an authority on the development of EA Sports College Football.

Which, hey, is fine with me. I religiously played those games as much as every other college sports fan in his mid-30s, and I’m excited to play again when the series returns this summer. I also know how important this series is not just to millions of fans, but to athletes, athletic departments, and even the college sports industry itself.

I get questions about EA Sports College Football every single day. In my Twitter DMs, email, LinkedIn…anywhere people can contact me. I appreciate that various YouTube channels and subreddits have identified this publication as a place to get reliable information, and I want to answer as many of those questions as I can.

Between open records and conversations I’ve had with EA Sports employees with direct knowledge of the product, I actually have a few more updates that I haven’t previously published…and I’ve written a lot about this game. But to make things easier for my new readers, I want to spell out just about everything I know about the game right here in this email.

When is this game coming out?

EA Sports College Football is currently scheduled to be released in the Summer of 2024. Despite litigation surrounding EA’s group licensing partnership that has not been completely resolved yet, industry sources and EA sources have been adamant that litigation will not impact the release date of the product.

What schools are going to be in the game?

According to correspondence I have examined from CLC and EA via Open Records requests, and from conversations I’ve had on the EA side, EA Sports is not currently planning on including FCS football teams in the initial launch of the product. I am told it is possible they may be included as DLC post-launch, but that is not finalized.

The expectation is for every single FBS program to be included in the game, including schools that are new to the FBS ranks, like Sam Houston, Jacksonville State, and Kennesaw State. A few schools have not formally signed the finalized licensing agreement yet, but I have been told that everybody is acting like they’re going to be in the game (i.e., sharing intellectual property, uniform designs, stadium photos, etc), even if the paperwork hasn’t cleared. Any fan concerns that their favorite FBS team will not be in the game are unfounded, in my opinion.

What kinds of IP/assets are schools sending to EA?

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