EA Sports increases payouts to student-athletes for participating in College Football 26: everyone will receive at least $1,500
EA Sports has announced that its College Football 26 game will pay student-athletes $1,500 for the use of their name, image and likeness. This is more than double last year's payment of $600. In addition to the monetary compensation, the athletes will receive the Deluxe Edition of the game for the console of their choice.
Here's What We Know
In 2025, more than 11,000 student-athletes took part in College Football 25, receiving a total of more than $6 million. This year's payouts will increase to $16.5 million, not including additional compensation for brand ambassadors and game covers.
A spokesperson for EA Sports said: "College sports is growing and changing, and our focus at EA Sports is to continue to put athletes first by keeping them engaged in the game in College Football 26 and beyond."
The increase in payments to student-athletes demonstrates EA Sports' commitment to supporting and recognising their contributions to the game by ensuring fair compensation and engagement.
As a reminder, College Football 25 became the second best-selling game of 2024 in the US, losing only to Black Ops 6. Therefore, thanks to such sales, it is possible to increase payments to athletes. And College Football 26 will be released this summer on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series.
Source: @FOS
