Notre Dame Opts Out Of EA Sports NCAA Football Game

The Notre Dame football program will not be a part of the EA Sports NCAA Football video game relaunch.

Notre Dame says it will not participate unless there is a way for Fighting Irish student-athletes to be compensated for their likeness in the game.

“Notre Dame athletics welcome the return of EA Sports college football, the video game series that has historically helped promote interest in college football,” Athletic Director Jack Swarbrick said, via TMZ Sports. “Notre Dame will not, however, participate in the game until such time as rules have been finalized covering the participation of our student-athletes.

“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.”Fighting Irish head coach Brian Kelly added, “We are here to support our student-athletes.”

“Much like we have empowered our players when it comes to providing a platform to speak on racial inequalities & social issues that are important to them, we must support them when it comes to NIL & the work that still needs to be done.”

The game was initially discontinued in 2014 due to issues regarding the use of NCAA players’ likenesses, but now EA Sports is moving forward with a relaunch.

The surprise announcement was made on social media on Tuesday, February 2.

The message was simple.

“For those who never stopped believing … College Football is coming back #EASPORTSCollegeFootball,” the company wrote.

For those who never stopped believing…#EASPORTSCollegeFootball pic.twitter.com/2vDUYnbXEJ

— EA SPORTS (@EASPORTS) February 2, 2021

No further details were given at this time.

The announcement comes after a ruling back in October 2019 where the NCAA board of governors voted to allow athletes to profit off of their name and likeness. Those new rules are set to be implemented in early 2021.

We don’t know exactly when the game will be released, but we can’t wait and we know it will be one of the most highly-anticipated EA Sports releases in years.