REPORT: EA Sports expecting the NCAA Football franchise to return
After what will be a nine-year layoff, it appears that EA Sports is primed to bring back the NCAA Football franchise — which has not seen action since 2014 — in the summer of 2023, according to reports.
The news was first broken by Brandon Marcello of 247Sports, who made the announcement on Twitter Thursday and included a response from Cory Moss, CEO of Collegiate Licensing Company regarding the game’s future release date: “That’s the hope.”
The 2023 summer release fits the timeframe of a four-year license proposal made to FBS schools beginning July 1, 2023, per EA Sports/CLC document shared by Matt Brown of Extra Points in June. Part of the holdup can be attributed to the NIL issue which made things a bit complicated.
The NCAA Football series began back in 1993 originally as Bill Walsh College Football, serving as the college counterpart to Madden NFL. By 1998, EA Sports had acquired the licensing rights necessary to use the NCAA name, giving birth to NCAA Football 98, which featured Florida’s Heisman Trophy winner Danny Wuerffel on the cover. Many who were around at the time will tell you that NCAA was superior to Madden as the century came to a close, and they are correct.
There is no word whether any modern aspects of the college game, such as the transfer portal, will be included but fans should expect an up-to-date version with all the goodies that make the game so great. There is still a one-and-a-half-year horizon before its release, so a lot can happen between then and now.
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