Headlines

Through FOIA requests, cllct has learned that College Football 26 will utilize a new royalty structure in paying programs: “For each CFB product released by EA SPORTS, we (CLC Learfield) will provide a percentage for each institution based on the games played for that institution as a percentage of the total games played across all institutions. This percentage of games played will become the final allocation percentage for each school that will be applied to the total gross royalties for all institutions received.”

Continue on to read an excerpt of the article from cllct and Matt Liberman. ...

The EA SPORTS College Football 26 Closed Beta is now underway, from June 6 to June 8. Included in the Beta is Online Dynasty and Road to the College Football Playoff.

It is unclear what the criteria was to be invited into the College Football 26 Closed Beta outside of Madden VIPs and per @CFBDirect: "the majority of invites went out to the most engaged CFB players." The popular community belief is that a percentage of users with a high number of hours played were extended invites. The lack of clarity combined with many 'engaged CFB players' not getting an invite led to a negative perception of the event by some in the community.

While the blog stated that users "must refrain from recording, streaming and/or capturing any portion of the closed beta ... [They] also must not post videos, thoughts, discussions, screenshots or stream the closed beta on social media or the Internet," numerous users did exactly that. Early on Friday afternoon, some images were removed from r/NCAAFBseries, for example, but by evening screens and details were readily available across social media. On3 even shared out a night game opening for LSU-Alabama from a user that had been sharing content all afternoon with no ban or block from EA.

The end-goal of the Closed Beta also seemed unclear. While the Closed Beta Details blog listed feedback methodology and requests, two College Football 26 developers shared that the Beta is an older build and the goal was to mainly stress test servers. Continue on to see the Closed Beta details per EA. ...

In this edition of the TGT Podcast, cdj and JBHuskers break down the latest EA SPORTS College Football 26 news including:

• A CFB 26 beta?
• Will Coach Prime be in CFB 26?
• Equipment chaos
• & much more

Follow the link to watch the Video Podcast and share your thoughts on the show along with future topics.

The Gaming Tailgate Podcast is also available on YouTube Music, Spotify, iTunes, and anywhere you listen to podcasts.

To submit show feedback, ask a question, or suggest a topic for a future show, e-mail the guys at podcast AT thegamingtailgate DOT com or post your thoughts below. ...

In this edition of the TGT Podcast, cdj and gschwendt break down the EA SPORTS College Football 26 official reveal trailer and the features list for the title.

Follow the link to watch the Video Podcast and share your thoughts on the show along with future topics.

The Gaming Tailgate Podcast is also available on YouTube Music, Spotify, iTunes, and anywhere you listen to podcasts.

To submit show feedback, ask a question, or suggest a topic for a future show, e-mail the guys at podcast AT thegamingtailgate DOT com or post your thoughts below. ...

The EA SPORTS College Football 26 official reveal trailer is now live! Check it out and then share your thoughts with the community. ...

Tuesday morning, EA SPORTS kicked of the pre-release marketing campaign for College Football 26 by revealing the Standard and Deluxe Edition covers.

The standard edition of the game will feature two sophomore standout WRs in Alabama's Ryan Williams and Ohio State's Jeremiah Smith. The Deluxe Edition features a bevy of current and former players, current head coaches, mascots, fans, band members, and even a referee. (The cover confirmed the legitimacy of 'leaks' from the March cover shoot.)

EA also announced that the Official Reveal Trailer for the game will go live on YouTube on Thursday morning. ...

Tuesday on X, Rece Davis shared that it "is a wrap" on recording commentary for EA SPORTS College Football 26 and that "it's coming soon." In the clip, Davis seemingly records the name of numerous different players preparing to throw the ball, however a closer look at the names said by Davis hint at real-life coordinators coming to CFB 26.

The player names stated are all last names of current HCs, OCs, or DCs in college football (sans Zach Arnett who recently resigned at UNLV.) Photos emerged in mid-March from the College Football 26 cover shoot from the Rose Bowl. In this pictures are several head coaches, including Kirby Smart, Dan Lanning, Lane Kiffin, and James Franklin. Davis' video seemingly implies that CFB 26 may include both real-life head coaches as well as offensive & defensive coordinators.

Continue on to see Rece's tweet as well as the list of coaches who match the player names stated. ...

The UFL website has shared an article detailing the work of Michigan Panthers offensive lineman Ryan Nelson as he performs motion capture for EA SPORTS College Football and Madden NFL franchises.

Nelson has become a cornerstone figure for EA Sports’ top football titles, providing the motion-capture work for nearly all offensive line play in Madden ’25, Madden ’26 and College Football ’25. When gamers pancake defenders, pull around the edge, or celebrate a big play, chances are they’re seeing Nelson in action — even if they don’t know it.

“I put that cool animation suit on and act out all the offensive line motion that you see for all the EA games,” Nelson said. “So everything from the huge pancake blocks to the massive blocks down field, to your base idle block where I'm just sitting there doing nothing, to getting absolutely crushed and thrown backwards by a bull rush.”

Nelson played at Virginia from 2017-2021, starting all 49 games of his career while earning fourth-team All-ACC honors from Phil Steele his senior season.

Click here to read the entire article from Andy Seeley at The UFL. ...

During the Electronic Arts Q4 2025 Earnings Conference Call on Tuesday, the EA SPORTS College Football franchise was highlighted several times, namely for the success of CFB 25. The majority of game-related discussion centered on the financial success of the title and company, though one quote did hint at something eventually coming to CFB & Madden. Courtesy EA CEO and Chairman of the Board Andrew Wilson's prepared remarks: "Looking ahead, our deeper integration between Madden NFL and College Football is setting the stage for a unified massive online community."

What could this 'unified massive online community' be? Some in the community have speculated that it would be an open world experience similar to that found in NBA 2K.

Last fall, EA SPORTS President Cam Weber presented a look ahead of an open world technology that could be coming to EA SPORTS FC and to the American Football franchises 'in the years ahead.' However, the idea presented fell flat among the reddit/NCAAFBSeries community.

Continue on to see each relevant mention of EA CFB during the conference call. ...