For now, EA Sports is planning to move forward without rosters that include the names, images or likenesses of real college players. Current NCAA rules prohibit athletes from selling their NIL rights while in college. However, those rules are likely to be changed at some point in the coming year -- by the NCAA, state legislatures or Congress. It's not yet clear whether the evolving rules will allow for the kind of group licensing arrangements that would be needed for EA Sports to negotiate with athletes to use their names in the game. Holt said that EA Sports will monitor the NIL discussion if and when things change but that it's too early for that to happen. He also said what happens in NIL legislation will not change whether the game happens or when it will end up on shelves.
Allowing athletes to profit on their names, images, and likeness would cut into EA Sports profit on the video game. As a result, EA Sports might encourage more virtual goods development and sales on their platform to compensate for this loss. Increased customization choices in the game also lends itself to virtual goods content creation. These complementary influences could drive the annual purchase value per MAU for virtual goods shop.
