Skip to main content
Join Now

NFLPA warns Pathway NIL deal could go against CBA, complicate professional path

ns_headshot_2024-clearby:Nick Schultz•02/14/25•

NickSchultz_7

NFL Players Association NFLPA logo
© Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Earlier this week, reports said multiple schools partnered with a new NIL licensing group called Pathway Sports and Entertainment. The company is looking to sign college football video game rights of FBS players following the success of EA Sports College Football 25 a year ago.

However, the NFL Players’ Association issued a warning to agents about possible wording in the contracts. It said certain verbiage could go against the league’s collective bargaining agreement.

Under the NFL’s CBA, players assign their NIL rights exclusively to the NFLPA and licensing affiliates in a standard league contract. According to the memo, Pathway’s contracts give it the right of first refusal for NIL rights – which could complicate things in NFL negotiations.

“The agreement being offered to the college athletes … includes a provision which states: ‘If/when [Player] becomes a professional football player, Pathway will have the first option and right of first refusal to license [Player’s] name, image and likeness in connection with any professional Video Game(s),'” the memo read. “In other words, for any college player that signs with [Pathway], any future use of the player’s NIL in a video game would require negotiation with Pathway. The right of first refusal could be exercised by Pathway in a way that could complicate or restrict the player’s future options for using NIL in videogames, including in the NFL.

“As you know, our CBA requires every NFL player to sign the standard NFL Player contract. And that Player Contract, in turn, requires each NFL player to assign his group NIL rights on an exclusive basis to the NFLPA and its licensing affiliates for use in the group licensing program that supports the Union and its member. Accepting the terms of the Pathway agreement as drafted could present risks or complications for potential NFL player clients, including but not limited to, not being able to comply with the grant of rights set forth in the standard NFL Player Contract and exclusion from the NFLPA’s group licensing program which includes opportunities far beyond video games.”

Pathway founder Casey Schwab responded to the NFLPA’s memo Friday night. He said the program does not violate the NFL’s CBA or create problems with the NFLPA licensing program.

“Setting the record straight, nothing in Pathway’s program violates the NFL CBA, nor does it prohibit players from participating in the NFLPA’s group licensing program,” Schwab wrote on X. “The NFLPA’s own communications are careful to not make those claims, for good reason. Pathway’s program simply offers college players more money now and more opportunities and protections in the future.”

Alabama, Georgia, Illinois, Wisconsin, Oregon and Texas Tech are all involved in the venture, according to multiple reports. Pathway has signed more than 450 players to NIL deals worth $1,500 apiece for the rights to use their name, image and likeness in the EA Sports video game – more than double the $600 athletes received to appear in College Football 25. Higher-profile athletes will receive larger sums of money, the company said.

“Most athletic directors and most college football coaches want to support their football players in making legitimate commercial dollars,” Schwab said, via ESPN’s Pete Thamel. “The reception so far has been excellent.”

EA Sports contracted OneTeam Partners last year to help facilitate NIL deals with athletes in what was the largest activation in history at the time. The game was incredibly popular, generating more than $500 million in sales through the first two weeks after its initial release. In January, EA Sports announced the pending release of College Football 26.