Why did Arch Manning initially opt out of EA College Football 25? All we know about Texas QB’s decision

Arch Manning opted out of EA Sports College Football 25 in March when players were making their decision about participating in the video game. This was after EA won the lawsuit aimed at stopping it from using college football players’ likenesses in the game. Here’s a look at what led to the decision.

Why did Arch Manning initially opt out of College Football 25?

Arch Manning made the decision to opt out of EA Sports College Football 25 earlier in March to focus on playing at Texas. After an uneventful freshman season, the quarterback won’t be getting the starting role in 2024 as Quinn Ewers will be returning for his senior season.

Opting out of the video game was aimed at avoiding distractions that could come with it. Anwar Richardson of Orange Blood made the confirmation with a post on X after speaking with a host of people at the program.

“Multiple people have told me Texas redshirt quarterback Arch Manning will not opt into EA Sports College Football 25. I'm told Arch is focused on playing football on the field,” Richardson wrote.

Furthermore, opting in would go against the NIL roadmap set for the quarterback by his grandfather, Archie Manning. Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian disclosed in April 2023 at the Touchdown Club of Houston that he won't receive NIL money until he becomes a starter.

“Everybody is under this assumption that this was an NIL deal for him to come to the University of Texas. It was absolutely not,” Sarkisian said, via The Athletic. “He’s taken zero money from an NIL perspective.

“The beauty of it for us, his NIL value — whatever it is — his grandpa (Archie) won’t let him take any NIL money. He said, ‘You can take money when you become a player and you start.'”

Arch Manning's eventual opt-in for the game

A couple of days before the release of the College Football 25 video game by EA Sports, Arch Manning announced he would be opting into the game. This allowed the publisher to use his likeness in the game.

The quarterback posted a video on social media to announce the decision. The video featured his uncle, Eli Manning, reading him a phony play call while he threw a touchdown in the game. He captioned the video with:

“I'm IN the game.”

He joined more than 11,000 players who accepted to be part of the game. EA Sports is reported to be paying each player that opted in a sum of $600 and a copy of the video game.