Six Schools Team up With New NIL Licensing Group for Video Game Rights
Last Updated on February 16, 2025
In a significant development for collegiate athletics and gaming, six prominent universities—Alabama, Georgia, Illinois, Wisconsin, Oregon, and Texas Tech—have partnered with Pathway Sports and Entertainment to manage the name, image, and likeness rights for their football players.
The partnership aims to include these athletes in upcoming college football video games, per a report from Pete Thamel.
“A new undertaking is signing up FBS college football players’ video NIL licensing rights to be used in the college football video game,” Thamel wrote. “Pathway Sports and Entertainment, founded by Casey Schwab, has signed a majority of the football players at Alabama, Georgia, Illinois, Wisconsin, Oregon and Texas Tech, per the company.”
Pathway Sports and Entertainment has already secured agreements with approximately 450 players from these institutions, each receiving $1,500 for the use of their likenesses in the EA Sports College Football video game. This compensation is notably higher than the previous offer of $600 and a copy of the game. Thamel mentioned that high-profile players are also expected to receive additional compensation. The group aims to sign up every FBS school, a potential undertaking of more than $17 million.
A veteran in the NIL space with prior experience at Altius, Schwab describes this initiative as “the largest commercial program for college athletes in history” and strives to “be the first group to actually negotiate directly with the video game makers on behalf of the group.” Schwab said the understanding and acceptance have been strong on campus.
“Most athletic directors and most college football coaches want to support their football players in making legitimate commercial dollars,” Schwab said. “The reception so far has been excellent.”
This move reflects the evolving landscape of college athletics, where NIL rights have become a pivotal aspect of the college athlete experience. The collaboration between universities and licensing groups like Pathway Sports and Entertainment underscores a commitment to ensuring athletes are fairly compensated for the use of their likenesses in commercial products.
The resurrection of EA Sports College Football 25 in the summer of 2024 marked a significant milestone, ending a hiatus that began after NCAA Football 14. The hiatus was primarily due to legal challenges related to including player likenesses when athletes could not profit from their NIL rights.
The revival proved to be a monumental success. Within 48 hours of its release, the game attracted over 700,000 players, and the deluxe edition, priced at $99.99, generated an impressive $66 million by offering early access. By November 2024, the game had become the best-selling sports video game in U.S. history based on dollar sales. Building on this momentum, EA announced in January that College Football 26 is slated for release ahead of the 2025 season.
However, the NFL Players Association was quick to put out a notice about how participating in this new deal with Pathways might impact an athlete’s ability to participate in future opportunities during their pro career.
As always, athletes are encouraged to have all contracts reviewed by an attorney who can advise them as to the rights they are giving up and the impact it might have on future opportunities. We have a list of attorneys who work in the NIL space if you’re an athlete looking for assistance.
