Here's what the EA Sports College Football video game proposal looked like

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Last month, I filed Open Records requests to over 100 D1 institutions for communication with representatives at either EA Sports or CLC concerning the video game. I wanted to better understand how both parties were selling video game participation to member institutions, and what sorts of questions those schools might have had about participating.

Today, one of those schools sent me a redacted copy of the proposal the CLC sent to FBS institutions.

The document was titled “EA SPORTS COLLEGE VIDEO GAME PROPOSAL FOR INSTITUTIONS”, dated January 15, 2021.

My copy of this document redacted any of the proposed financial terms of the arrangement. If any of my readers would like to share those figures, well, I’m on Signal and my email is [email protected].

Here’s some of the stuff from the proposal that I thought you might be interested in.

Here’s when this game is projected to actually come out, according to the CLC

Regular Extra Points readers knew not to expect this college football video game to come out tomorrow. Heck, even the official EA Sports Twitter account was trying to set that expectation.

This proposal document reinforces that expectation. In the very first paragraph, the proposal states:

I would not take this as a stone-cold guarantee. Game development schedules change all the time, and so much can happen between now and 2023. But this should be further proof that EA is not planning on rushing a Madden re-skin out the door just to capitalize on the groundswell of consumer interest.

This proposal would not allow for roster customization

Previous versions of the NCAA franchise allowed users to digitally alter pre-loaded rosters. That meant there was nothing stopping a user from sitting down and entering the real names and likenesses of actual current college athletes. Users could then download those roster files online, and presto, you could play with current rosters.

In a world where athletes can’t be paid for use of their name, image and likeness, that roster customization presents a thorny legal and liability problem. It’s why we don’t have a college football video game right now! If you’re going to use athlete likeness, you have to pay for it!

I believe that it is probable that before 2023, regulations around athlete NIL will change to allow current athletes to be compensated for their participation in future video games. My gut here is that EA and CLC think that as well. But in case that doesn’t happen, the CLC proposal offers a compromise. No roster customization features.

Should legislation change, well, EA plans to change as well.

Already, several FBS institutions have indicated that unless athletes can benefit, they do not plan to participate in the game. Last week’s Extra Points has a little more context behind that decision-making process.

What sort of digital assets is EA looking for? Quite a bit! Including access to mascot costumes.

It’s been years since we’ve had a college football game, and several FBS institutions, like Old Dominion, Georgia Southern and Liberty, have never appeared in a video game as FBS institutions. In order to get them in the game, EA is going to need certain digital assets to make sure that teams look like they do in real life. That’s half the fun of the game, right?

Here’s what the proposal asks for:

This is another reason why it would make sense for the game to take longer to develop. Flying across the country, actually visiting each participating school, taking photos, scanning the socks, getting uh, access to mascot costumes, etc. is going to take time to do complete properly, especially post-COVID. Most schools have tweaked their uniforms a bit since 2014, and all sorts of stadiums look at least a little bit different.

But yes, before we can play the video game again, EA needs to spend some time with Ralphie the Buffalo. That’s only fair.

Here a few other odds and ends:

• From 2004-2014, EA held an exclusive license for college football simulation games. That wasn’t always the case. SEGA, for example, used to produce a college football video game. Per the document, “EA is seeking exclusive rights to simulation game play within college football and non-exclusive rights to non-simulation games.”

• Under a section labeled “hardware”, the proposal states “the fifth generation of hardware (Playstation 5 and Xbox Series X) launched November of 2020. As a result, the installed base of video game hardware will be at optimum levels in time for this release.” My personal reading of this passage is that it is less likely this game gets a PS4/Xbox One release, especially with the proposed 2023 release date.

• Many consumers have wondered whether this game would fall in line with similar modern sports video games, with an emphasis on downloadable content (DLC) or other add-ons. Here’s what the proposal has to say about DLC:

Based on previous CLC correspondence I’ve seen via open records request, I think one possible DLC could be the inclusion of FCS programs, or perhaps even programs outside of D-1. What other DLC might look like is open to speculation, but I think it’s a safe assumption that a future EA Sports video game will have DLC options.

We’re a long way away from playing a finished college football video game. An awful lot can change.

Creating a AAA video game is a complicated and expensive process, and that’s under the best of circumstances. The college football landscape in 2021 would not constitute the best of circumstances, since there’s a lot of regulatory uncertainty surrounding athlete NIL, and how schools can (or should) license their own IP. Plus, we’re still coming out of a global pandemic. Travel is complicated. Most offices aren’t even open yet.

So stuff can change!

But either way, I thought this was an interesting look at what the CLC told schools right now about what this product hopes to be. And as more information, both on what the game actually is, and how schools and athletes will participate in it, I hope to share that with you. I know many of you care about this game a lot.

And hey, I do too!

Thanks again for your continued support of Extra Points. If you’d like to sponsor future editions of Extra Points OR Going For Two, or would like to secure a 50% off discount on bulk subscriptions, I’m at [email protected]. For FOIA questions, story feedback, document leaks, funny jokes and more, I’m at [email protected], or @MattBrownEP.