It appears that EA Sports has made a grave mistake in attempting to include Arch Manning in “College Football 25.”
The Texas backup quarterback announced Tuesday that he will be at EA Sports’ first college football game in 11 years after initially opting out.
The announcement quickly went viral and spread across social media. The only player who had not been willing to participate is now in the game. This is positive news… but EA Sports could have prepared itself for future problems.
Did EA Sports make a mistake in handling the Arch Manning case and “College Football 25”?
While many fans are excited about Arch Manning’s presence in the game, I found myself curious as to what might have motivated the change.
The answer appears to be a lot of money. On3’s Pete Nakos reported that Arch Manning is receiving between $50,000 and $60,000, but he’s not getting paid anything for promoting the game.
That sets a terrible precedent. I can’t imagine anyone having been on the fence about buying College Football 25 and then deciding to do so. *ONLY* because Arch Manning chose to participate.
Arch Manning is now on “College Football 25.” (Photo by Chris Leduc/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
People were going to buy this game no matter what. The Texas backup, no matter how famous he is, not being in the game wasn’t going to change anything.
I literally went out and bought a PS5 just to play College Football 25, and I can promise you that Arch Manning’s initial decision not to play the game didn’t stop me one bit.
By paying Arch Manning up to $60,000 to join the game and promote it, EA Sports has set the precedent that if you resist, you might get a big payout to change your mind. Remember, the base level for players to sign up is $600 and a free copy of the game. Many players would probably have done it for free.
Now, why wouldn’t a star player want to make a lot more money? What will EA Sports do if the top 50 players in college football get together and demand a similar amount or don’t opt for it?
Once a star player is paid a lot of money to opt in after opting out, a clear precedent is set, and that precedent will get very expensive very fast.
Arch Manning is coming to ‘College Football 25,’ but is it a huge mistake for EA Sports? (Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images)
EA Sports should have let Arch sit out of “College Football 25” and come back next year. By paying him, the company has set itself up to write a lot of big checks in the future. It’s not smart at all. Let me know if you agree or disagree with this. [email protected].
