EA Sports unveils star-studded lineup to stream College Football 25 prior to launch

Ohio State (Hillwood Stream): Frankie Walker and LeBron James
Oregon State: Chad Ochocinco
Mississippi State: Sketch
Michigan: Donovan Edwards
Michigan State: MMG
Virginia Tech: Michael Vick
Florida: Tim Tebow
Notre Dame: Shane Gillis
Arizona: Dan Soder
Texas: Quinn Ewers
Wisconsin: Big Cat
James Madison: PFT Commenter
Colorado: Travis Hunter and Shedeur Sanders

EA Sports continues to add to the hype around College Football 25. The company held “Rankings Week” two weeks ago and announced notable roster ratings this week. That’s in addition to the multiple “Deep Dives” that have come out in recent months ahead of the release.

Now that players can be in the game thanks to NIL, fans will see some of the most notable names in the sport on their screens. In fact, EA Sports surpassed its goal of 11,000 opt-ins in what’s believed to be one of the largest NIL deals ever executed.

Just 10 days after the launch of the opt-in program, EA announced more than 10,000 athletes opted into the game. OneTeam told On3 EA is now north of 14,000 opt-ins ahead of the July release.

OneTeam and CLC worked hand-in-hand to facilitate the NIL deals. Athletes receive $600 plus a copy of the game for their participation.

Arch Manning is in the game

After previously deciding not to opt in to the NIL program, one of the biggest names in college football announced he was reversing course this week. Arch Manning will be in EA Sports College Football 25, after all.

Manning made the announcement along with his uncle Eli. At the end of the video, Arch Manning announced he was in.

Manning is gearing up for his sophomore season at Texas after appearing in two games last year. He sat behind Quinn Ewers and Maalik Murphy on the depth chart, making his college debut late in the year during a blowout victory over Texas Tech in Lubbock.

But with Murphy now at Duke and Ewers back for another year, Manning will serve as the primary backup this season and despite calls to do so, did not enter the transfer portal. When it came to opting in to the video game, though, Manning wanted to be “the guy” before doing so, ESPN’s Mark Schlabach reported.

Pete Nakos contributed.