EA Sports has become a major money maker for Ole Miss in the College Football video game era, and the first two years of the franchise’s return show just how much the payout model has shifted.
During fiscal year 2025, Ole Miss collected $589,116 from EA Sports, which made the video game company the school’s top individual licensee for that year. The payments kept coming in year two as well: Ole Miss received another $355,312 in FY2026, pushing the two-year total to $944,428.
That second-year drop lines up with lower national sales after the game’s huge relaunch and with a new system for distributing royalties. Under the current model, the Rebels’ share is tied to how often fans use them in the game. Ole Miss accounted for 1.49 percent of all gameplay, which ranked 18th nationally, and that figure determined its slice of the royalty pool.
The EA Sports money carried real weight in Ole Miss’ overall licensing picture. The school reported $12,457,220 in total revenue from royalties, licensing, advertising and sponsorships in FY2025, and the EA Sports payment made up nearly 5 percent of that total.
The way schools are paid has already changed a lot since College Football 25 brought the franchise back in 2024 after an 11-year absence. At first, compensation was divided into four tiers based on football success, using the number of times a program finished in the final Associated Press Top 25 over the previous 10 seasons.
Programs with six or more ranked finishes were placed in Tier 1. Teams with two to five were slotted into Tier 2, where Ole Miss landed.
That placement reflected a peculiar stretch for the Rebels. Ole Miss had nationally prominent teams in 2014 and 2015, then disappeared from the national picture for several years during and after probation.
From 2016 through 2020, the Rebels did not finish in the final AP ranking before Lane Kiffin’s 2021 team went 10-3 and finished No. 11.
Tier 1 included Alabama, Ohio State, Clemson, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Georgia, LSU, Michigan, Oregon, Oklahoma State, Penn State, Utah and Iowa.
Most of the SEC ended up in Tier 2 alongside Ole Miss. South Carolina and Arkansas were placed in Tier 3, and Vanderbilt was in Tier 4.
That original setup guaranteed schools compensation based on the value and recent success they brought to the game. The current system is different: the more a team gets played, the more that school gets paid.
Ole Miss also has a place on the new cover of College Football 27. Rebels running back Kewan Lacy is one of three athletes featured, along with Oregon quarterback Dante Moore and Miami receiver Malachi Toney.
In Other News...
Pete Golding Is Taking A Very Different Ole Miss Roster Approach
Pete Golding is approaching the new NCAA eligibility landscape with a different kind of patience at Ole Miss, even as the changes have already started to reshape rosters across the league. The rule adjustments that allow certain players to come back for a fifth year have created a fresh market for experienced veterans, and former Rebels are among the ones taking advantage of it by moving on to Lane Kiffins current team in Baton Rouge.
Golding has not added one of those players yet, but he has not shut the door on the idea either. His stance is more selective than aggressive, with the Rebels coach saying roster fit and team needs will guide any move as the ripple effects of the eligibility shift keep playing out. Kiffin, meanwhile, has been more active in that same space, underscoring just how differently the two coaches are navigating the same new reality. [Read more 🡒]
Ole Miss Took Unusual Security Steps After Lane Kiffin Left
Ole Miss found itself dealing with more than just the jolt of Lane Kiffins departure to LSU, and the school responded by tightening security around its football facility. Defensive coordinator Pete Golding said the team did not formally call the FBI, but he did confirm that a players father who works for the bureau locally checked the building for listening devices, a detail that underscores how strange the aftermath of the coaching change became around the program.
The Rebels had already taken standard security precautions during their playoff run, but the response after Kiffin left went a step further and reflected the unease that can follow a high-profile exit. For a team trying to keep its focus on the field, even routine operations suddenly carried a little more sensitivity, and Ole Miss made sure the building itself was treated with the same caution as the game plan. [Read more 🡒]
SEC Takes A Stand As Former Rebels Fuel A New Concern
The SECs latest statement landed as more than just another conference memo, especially for schools like Ole Miss that have watched the transfer market and roster rules reshape college football almost by the week. By backing the Protect College Sports Act, the league made its position plain: college sports are for college athletes, and the conference wants that boundary protected as the sport keeps blurring lines between the college and pro levels.
For Ole Miss, the issue has a more immediate edge because former Rebels DaeQuan Wright and Zxavian Harris, both recently waived by NFL teams, are reportedly on track to commit to LSU. Their situation reflects a growing trend of former professional players heading back to college football, a development that could alter how rosters are built and how the 2026 season begins to take shape. [Read more 🡒]