College Football

Arch Manning reportedly declines EA Sports' offer to appear in 'College Football 25'

Updated Mar. 5, 2024 11:01 a.m. ET

For those hoping to lead Texas back to glory with Arch Manning at quarterback in the new EA Sports "College Football 25" video game, it appears you might need to get creative.

The quarterback phenom has declined to share his name, image and likeness (NIL) for the upcoming relaunch of EA Sports' college football video game, according to Rivals.com. Manning is focused on his play on the field, according to the report.

Manning is the first notable player who has reportedly declined to share his likeness for the game. In fact, he might be one of the very few Division I college football players who won't be in the game. There are already more than 10,000 players who've accepted an NIL deal to appear in the game, EA Sports announced on Monday. With that many players already accepting an offer, EA Sports has hit its goal of getting an 87% acceptance rate on the NIL offers it made to more than 11,000 athletes at all 134 FBS schools.

"The response to the athlete opt-in opportunity for EA Sports ‘College Football 25’ has been phenomenal," EA Sports' Tiburon Studios and American football division senior vice president and group general manager Daryl Holt reportedly said in a statement to ESPN on Monday. "In the little over one week, over 10,000 athletes across the FBS have opted-in to the offer with more saying 'yes' every hour. We're excited to welcome more athletes in the weeks ahead and to debut this first class of athletes in the game when it launches this summer."

There will be a setting that allows those who play the game to create a player, but Holt previously said that an opted-out player can't be created and inserted into the game.

"I won't reveal how we're dealing with that," Holt told ESPN in February. "But yeah, you won't be able to edit that."

While Manning has reportedly declined that offer, Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers was among the first to share that they would be "in the game," announcing that he accepted the offer on the first day players were able to in February. Colorado WR/CB Travis Hunter, Ohio State RB Quinshon Judkins, Alabama QB Jalen Milroe, Georgia QB Carson Beck and Ole Miss QB Jaxson Dart, are just a handful of the many stars who've shared that they will also appear in College Football 25.

Lamar Jackson headlines best cover athletes for EA Sports' NCAA Football video game

EA Sports' made its NIL offer to all Division I college football players to appear in College Football 25 in February, offering $600 and a copy of the video game if they accepted.

Manning, who is the son of Cooper Manning and the nephew of Peyton and Eli Manning, was a highly sought-after recruit in the Class of 2023. He has been projected as one of the college athletes with the highest NIL valuations since the NCAA amended its NIL bylaw in 2021. However, Manning only has one known NIL deal, an exclusive trading card partnership with Panini America, which included a charitable auction that raised over $100,000 for multiple hospitals.

Texas coach Steve Sarkisian shared in April 2023 that Manning's grandfather, former NFL quarterback Archie Manning, advised him to not accept an NIL deal until he became a starter. Manning served as the secondary backup to Ewers last season, with his lone notable stint coming in Texas' regular-season finale blowout win over Texas Tech. He completed 2 of 5 passes for 30 yards and rushed for seven yards in that game. With Maalik Murphy transferring, Manning is in-line to be the primary backup to Ewers, who held off NFL Draft interest to remain in Austin for another season.

EA Sports encouraged athletes to accept the NIL offers by April to ensure their inclusion in the video game when it hits stores in July. An exact release date has yet to be announced, although more details will be shared in May.