Notre Dame Pulls Out of NCAA Video Game, Wants Athletes to Get Paid

Notre Dame
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Warner Todd Huston

Notre Dame has told video game giant EA Sports that it will not be allowed to include the university in its NCAA college football video game until the rules are put in place allowing their athletes to be compensated.

EA Sports had announced this month that it is about to release a new version of its NCAA college football video game, which was last updated way back in 2013. However, the game maker noted that individual players and current player rosters would not be part of the game this year. EA plans to include only the 100 chosen schools and their team names, logos, and colors.

However, the generic nature of the game was not good enough for Notre Dame. The school told EA that it could not include the Indiana-based university in the game until or unless there’s a program to pay the student-athletes.

“Notre Dame athletics welcome the return of EA Sports college football, the video game series that has historically helped promote interest in college football,” AD Jack Swarbrick said, according to TMZ.

“Notre Dame will not, however, participate in the game until such time as rules have been finalized covering the participation of our student-athletes,” the college added.

“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,” the statement continued.

ND head coach Brian Kelly added that the school is “here to support our student-athletes,” and added, “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.”

If other colleges jump on board this bandwagon, it will likely mean the end of any college-based sports video game.

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