The Economics of College Football 25: Development Costs, Revenue Sharing, and the Future of Collegiate Athletics
The release of EA Sports College Football 25 marked a significant moment in the world of sports video games and college athletics. After an 11-year hiatus, the return of the beloved franchise has sparked excitement among fans, gamers, and college football players alike. However, the game's development and launch have also brought to light complex economic issues surrounding college athletics, including revenue sharing, NIL (Name, Image, Likeness) deals, and the overall financial landscape of NCAA programs.
The Long Road Back: Development and Production
After the series' previous entry in 2013, Electronic Arts (EA) settled a lawsuit brought by former college football players who argued their name, image, and likeness (NIL) were used without permission or compensation. Initially, player names and likenesses were not to be included in the game. Because of this, several schools, including Notre Dame, Tulane, and Northwestern refused to join the game until NIL rules were finalized. EA Sports responded by stating "player name, image and likeness is not currently planned for the game. However, we are watching the developments in this area closely and are prepared to take steps to include players should that opportunity arise." At the time, the NCAA had delayed and not voted on new NIL rules, but over two dozen states had either passed or proposed laws so that institutions couldn't enforce the NCAA's NIL rules. The 2021 United States Supreme Court case NCAA v. Alston further changed the landscape.
On November 22, 2022, in an interview with ESPN.com's Michael Rothstein, EA Sports vice president and general manager Daryl Holt stated that Electronic Arts would release the game sometime in summer 2024. "That's the best date for us to bring the game that we think is going to meet or exceed our player expectations…and cover the breadth and scale of what we want in the game. On February 22, 2024, EA Sports announced that all 134 Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) programs would be featured in EA Sports College Football 25 but the 128 Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) programs would not be included at launch. That same day, ESPN's lead college football commentary team of Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit announced that they would be featured as commentators. Herbstreit was a commentator in EA's original NCAA Football series until its hiatus after NCAA Football 14. A 21-minute gameplay trailer was premiered on July 8, 2024, featuring YouTuber Bordeaux and cover athlete Donovan Edwards. They played two games, with Edwards winning both with raw gameplay being revealed soon after. As well as the trailer, the day after, an Ultimate Team Deep Dive was posted. On July 12, 2024, YouTubers and Twitch Streamers who are in EA's Creator Network program got access to a nearly final edition of the game, in which rebuilds, player careers, and raw gameplay were shortly uploaded and streamed on YouTube, Twitch, and other platforms.
EA Sports invested heavily in securing school licenses, player NIL agreements, and updated graphics engines.
NIL and Player Compensation
One of the most significant costs associated with College Football 25 was securing NIL rights for active college players. More than 11,000 FBS players opted in last year, each receiving $600 and a copy of the game for their NIL participation in CFB25, for a total cost to EA of more than $6 million, though a number of athletes received more for advertising ambassador roles promoting the game. It was the largest group NIL deal in history, and for most backup players, it was their only NIL deal.
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However, a new organization is looking to negotiate higher payments for players in the future. An NIL group called Pathway Sports & Entertainment announced last week that it had begun to sign FBS players for their NIL video game rights. The company’s leaders have experience working in the NFL Players Association and the college NIL market.
According to Pathway, more than 600 football players have already signed on, from schools like Alabama, Georgia and Oregon, and the group’s goal is to get every scholarship FBS player. Pathway is paying players $1,500 up front for their rights, with the end goal of negotiating a licensing deal far more valuable to players than $600, potentially including royalties for each game sold, which schools already receive in exchange for the use of their brand and logos. Last year, players signed directly with EA Sports, which worked with group licensing platform OneTeam Partners. The initial NIL deals last the length of players’ college careers, with an opt out period each December.
EA Sports did not respond to a request for comment on Pathway’s plans, but the recent developments are not expected to impact College Football 26. Pathway’s control of the players’ video game NIL rights is non-exclusive for the first year of the agreements, and the December opt-out period has passed for players who signed on for CFB25. In an interview that took place before Pathway’s announcement, Holt said nothing new or different was expected on that player payment front this year.
Still, Pathway believes its vision would benefit everyone once they’ve signed enough players, and its deals do become exclusive in 2026. EA Sports could deal with a single entity for negotiations (like it does with the NFLPA for Madden). The deals being signed with Pathway include the right of first refusal for players’ NFL video game NIL rights, a detail about which the NFLPA has since raised concerns. Could Pathway’s framework allow gamers to export college football draft classes to Madden, a common feature of video games from the pre-NIL days? People involved said it’s too early to say.
“We want to maximize rights for the players, and we look forward to educating athletes about their value,” Pathway president Casey Schwab told The Athletic.
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Game Reception and Future Prospects
Critics, gamers and executives agreed: CFB25 wasn’t perfect, but it was a good starting point. The reviews of CFB25 were solid; Metacritic rated it an 80 (XBox) and 83 (PS5) out of 100, while video game publication IGN gave it a 7 out of 10. Both were higher than the outlets’ ratings for Madden 25. Gamers appreciated that microtransactions, a common feature of newer video games in which players must pay up to unlock special features and skills, didn’t take over the game.
“They got the overall fun factor right,” said Kofie Yeboah, a video game content creator and former engagement manager at Secret Base. “They got the basics right. This is Dynasty mode. This is Road to Glory. I can definitely see things being expanded upon.”
James Bordeaux, a full-time CFB25 YouTuber who has more than 454,000 subscribers, concurred. Bordeaux, whose videos take viewers on hours-long quests within the game, was enlisted by EA to show off the first glimpses of gameplay last summer while playing with Michigan running back Donovan Edwards.
“I would say it was great as a foundation for the series,” he said. “There are parts that don’t feel 100 percent polished, but it makes me excited about the future of the series, especially with how much EA has listened to the community.”
That community’s most frequent complaints included pass protection issues and the timing/recovery of fumbles during gameplay, a shortage of off-field details in Dynasty mode, limits on what can be customized in the TeamBuilder mode and a lack of playbook and quarter-length options in online play.
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EA Sports released several game patch updates after the launch, fixing glitches and updating playbooks, jerseys and stadiums. That technology wasn’t available the last time the college football game was around.
The game’s next edition, College Football 26, has been in the works for many months and will likely have another July release date. The College Football franchise had the advantage of being new and fresh last year, and it met the sky-high expectations.
But can that momentum continue in the ensuing years, or will it fall into the trap of older video game franchises that run out of ideas?
“We went into it knowing there was a lot of stuff we couldn’t get into the first year,” Holt said. “So there’s a lot of meat left on the bone.”
Some of the most common requests from gamers are game modes and features that were available in older versions or other sports games: an expanded Road to Glory mode with more time spent as a high school player; Mascot Mode, in which every player on the field is replaced with a plush mascot; the ability to play online dynasties across different gaming consoles; access to great teams from throughout college football history.
The Broader Economic Impact on College Athletics
The release of College Football 25 coincides with significant changes in the economic landscape of college athletics. As part of the House v. NCAA settlement, schools are allowed to share athletic department revenues with their student athletes beginning on July 1, 2025. Under the NCAA revenue sharing model, schools can elect to make payments directly to athletes up to $ 20.5 million per year. If a school also commits to increased scholarships than the amount of revenue sharing is reduced dollar for dollar up to $ 2.5 million. The annual cap will increase to around $ 32 million over the next ten years.
Estimates suggest that NCAA I schools will make revenue sharing payments to athletes of around $ 1.8 billion during the 2025-26 fiscal year. Indications are that virtually all Power 4 schools will max out at the $ 20.5 million cap for 2025-26. These estimates assume that all other participating NCAA I schools will make payments averaging 22% of annual operating revenue. Of the current total of 365 NCAA I members, 54 schools have indicated to date that they will not participate in revenue sharing, this includes the three Division I service academies, the eight Ivy League schools and 43 others.
Eligible athletes are based on the new NCAA I roster limits. These are averages per athlete … a few players per team will receive substantially higher than the average, while many will receive much less. Football teams are allocated the most money, but men’s basketball has the highest average per player due to much smaller rosters.
In addition to school revenue sharing payments, student athletes can continue to receive third-party NIL income for product endorsements, services and other compensation for use of their name, image and likeness. All third-party NIL contracts over $ 600 must be submitted to the College Sports Commission for approval.
Challenges and Concerns
The influx of money into college athletics, while beneficial for athletes, also presents challenges and concerns. One high-major coach told this to CBS Sports about the current NIL spending spree in general: “The guys aren’t worth the money they’re going for. I could spend $15 million, but the roster I’d put together wouldn’t win a national championship. I don’t want to say something is rotten in Denmark, but the numbers aren’t currently adding up on NIL compliance. As outlined in the House v NCAA settlement, every third-party NIL deal over $ 600 is required to be submitted to the College Sports Commission for approval. However, the total value of deals submitted via the NIL Go portal appears to be only a fraction of what is reportedly being paid for NIL. This raises the issue of potentially significant non-compliance with NIL reporting requirements. The latest update from the College Sports Commission reports only $ 127 million of cleared deals as of January 1, 2026 - this is a fraction of the estimated $ 500 million third-party NIL market just for basketball alone. Some of the difference can be attributable to the NIL Collective “money dump” prior to the July 1 start of CSC enforcement, but this still leaves a boatload of missing money.
College Athletic Departments are already losing money and the cash needed to fund revenue sharing and related costs - close to $ 30 million annually at most power conference schools - has to come from somewhere. Boosters are being aggressively marketed for increased contributions to help cover these costs. However, revenue sharing will likely result in increased parity between Power Conference schools and as a result, potentially a lot of unhappy boosters. Revenue sharing may also result in booster fatigue at many schools. So at almost all schools, revenue sharing will likely require the infusion of either additional school support and/or increased student fees, and this is a sticky issue. For example, James Madison University has made a remarkable transition from the FCS level and is contending for a FBS playoff bid this season. However JMU also charges the highest amount of athletic fees of any school - over $ 55 million per most recent reporting. This works out to $ 2,456 per student for the 2025-26 school year and is mandatory … whether a student has any interest in athletics or not.
The Future of College Athletics
The economic changes in college athletics could lead to significant shifts in the landscape. One of the few certainties in life is that if a private equity fund invests over $ 2 billion in any venture, they are expecting a lucrative return. So how do you get a media deal anywhere close to the NFL numbers? Simply by forming a college “super league” that operates similar to the NFL. And like any professional league, the schedule would only be games between league teams … “marquee” matchups every week would be one of the key selling points. There are currently 136 FBS schools so most would be excluded. To make sense operationally and to maximize revenue, the super league would likely end up closer to the current NFL size of 32 teams - which means 104 FBS schools would be left out in the cold. An NFL style college super league would be a pure and simple money grab and would likely destroy intercollegiate athletics.
tags: #NCAA #25 #development #cost
