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Report: B1G team says it won’t participate in EA Sports college football video game
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A B1G team is joining Notre Dame on the sidelines when it comes to the new EA Sports college football video game.
Steve Greenberg of the Chicago Sun Times reported on Wednesday night that Northwestern does not plan to participate in the new version of the popular video game created by EA Sports. Like Notre Dame, Northwestern would like student-athletes to be allowed to benefit from their name, image and likeness before taking part in the game.
Northwestern will become just the second school so far to make the announcement. Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick recently released a statement regarding the Fighting Irish’s stance on the matter.
Below is the series of tweets sent out by Greenberg.
Some news: Like Notre Dame, Northwestern will not be participating in the next version of EA Sports College Football until rules are created and finalized that allow players to benefit financially from use of their names, images, performance histories, etc. (1/4)
— Steve Greenberg (@SLGreenberg) February 24, 2021
Notre Dame was the first school to publicly announce its decision to hold off on joining the 100-plus schools already signed on to participate. Northwestern made its decision last month, according to an athletic department spokesman. (2/4)
— Steve Greenberg (@SLGreenberg) February 24, 2021
Illinois, like the vast majority of FBS schools, signed its commitment with Collegiate Licensing Company. According to a spokesman, Illinois is under the impression that, if new NIL rules are passed, EA intends to change its plan to include players with compensation. (3/4)
— Steve Greenberg (@SLGreenberg) February 24, 2021
“Our approval allows Illinois to be included in the development process,” the spokesman said, “and we would be supportive of any changes EA may incorporate should NIL pass.” (4/4)
— Steve Greenberg (@SLGreenberg) February 24, 2021
Recently, EA Sports announced it was relaunching one of its most popular sports video games. The most recent edition came out in 2013, when the company released NCAA Football 14. This upcoming game will not include “NCAA” in the title, and will instead be called EA Sports College Football.
Below is the statement sent out from Notre Dame recently:
“Notre Dame Athletics welcomes the return of EA Sports College Football, a video game series that has historically helped promote interest in college football. Notre Dame will not, however, participate in the game until such time as rules have been finalized governing the participation of our student-athletes,” Swarbrick said in a statement.
“As those rules are developed, it is our strong desire that student-athletes be allowed to benefit directly from allowing their name, image and performance history to be used in the game.”
Even though everyone seems excited about the relaunch of the video game, some schools are still apprehensive about participating. How many will follow the lead of Notre Dame and Northwestern in the coming weeks and months?
Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB