After a decade-long hiatus, EA Sports’College Footballis coming back. Not only is it reviving a beloved series for football fans, but it’s also bringing all 134 FBS (formerly Division I-A) schools along for the ride.
It’s no Mutant Football League, but it’ll do
First released asBill Walsh College Footballin 1993, the series was renamedCollege Football USAin 1996, andNCAA Footballin 1998. Then, the NCAA opted not to renew its licensing contract with EA in 2013 due to a legal dispute regarding player likenesses. Despiteplans to continue under theCollege Footballname, EA put a pause on the series afterseveral conferences revoked their licenseswith the publisher.
On June 10, 2025, the officialEASPORTSCollegeX accountmade a poststating “College Football is coming back.” Fast forward to this morning withthe announcementthat all 134 FBS schools would be in the next entry in the series,College Football 25.
Additionally, perThe Athletic, players on any of the teams within the included 134 FBS schools can opt-in for inclusion in the title. In return, they’ll receive $600 and a copy of the game. Initial rosters will include up to 85 players and those who don’t opt-in will have a generic avatar as their stand-in.The Athleticanticipates at least 11,000 players to be represented, so EA would be shelling out $6.6M at minimum if they all opt in. With that kind of payout, EA needs to ship a massive number of copies to recoup costs.
Fortunately for the publisher, college football in the States is a huge business, with individual teams in the Big Ten generatingupwards of $134M a year. After a 10-year absence, EA could be well-poised to strike, like an oilman in the Texas oil boom.
