The New Frontier: How EA Sports College Football 25 is Arizona Football's new recruiting avenue

With the new era of College Football upon us, yet another new recruiting tool is coming back on the market courtesy of EA Sports after almost a decade away, with College Football 25 dropping this July. 
University of Arizona Introduces Brent Brennan as Head Football Coach
University of Arizona Introduces Brent Brennan as Head Football Coach / Chris Coduto/GettyImages
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College football fans nationwide have longed for another college football game ever since the last iteration: NCAA Football 14. The explosion of digital exposure has expanded to the point that fan excitement could be rivaled by coach innovation in using EA Sports College Football 25 as a recruiting tool and community immersion platform.

While you may be looking forward to jumping right in and playing the Territorial Cup as a first game, or squaring off with the Washington Huskies because, well, feelings, college programs around the country may very well look to enlist their staff members to find an innovative way to utilize it to make recruiting pitches more personalized.

No one will be hard to find

With all FBS teams featured in College Football 25, prospective players will likely use the game to get a feel for each program. If EA Sports achieves the immersive experience they have long stated as being a priority, it could help make decisions where schools are neck-and-neck when in terms of setting up official visits

How can it be a recruiting tool?

Yes, the game is simply a disc in a plastic case — if you don’t get the digital edition, that is. However, it is likely to be amongst the most popular games of the year, and in today’s digital age, you’d be crazy not to use it as a tool to showcase how a prospective student-athlete would fit into your system. 

Noah Fifita
Utah v Arizona / Chris Coduto/GettyImages

Use a wide receiver, for example. He will likely be able to create a player to the point where he could have himself in Arizona Stadium catching passes from Noah Fifita in front of a sold-out crowd against ASU. This tool can create significant immersion that recruiting departments and coaching staffs have just never had before in the current age of social media and digital immersion that we currently reside in. 

How can it help off the field?

Today marks an area where the NIL world could match up with connecting football student-athletes with the community in a new way. Typically, many collectives do the typical golf outings and other community events. Now, this game provides a new avenue to connect with a wider fanbase to grow the collective funds.

Even if at a smaller individual figure, the game gets distributed to a wider audience. Imagine an event The Desert Takeover Football Collective hosts where for a reasonable fee, you could take part in a fun experience where you match up with an Arizona Football player or staff member, and with it comes some sort of gameday activation that builds on the support from less financially-endowed individuals to feel like they are a part of something bigger than they imagined. 

Nov 4, 2023; Frankfurt, Germany; A Madden NFL 24 video game advertisement with image of Kansas City
Nov 4, 2023; Frankfurt, Germany; A Madden NFL 24 video game advertisement with image of Kansas City / Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

The whole point of these types of football games has always been to put the fans in the driver's seat. The Madden, NBA 2K, FIFA, MLB The Show, and NHL series have always been about letting fans feel like they are even more a part of the time, and College Football 25 will be no different for Arizona fans.

ICYMI. Threadz. Arizona Football's NFL rookies in their new threads. dark

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