By Jamie Plunkett
Frogs Today staff writer
A small kerfuffle took place Tuesday on Twitter, when one TCU fan took to the socia- media platform to voice a complaint.
Twitter user @GarrettE413 inadvertently caused quite the stir by tweeting out a screenshot of an article that claimed TCU, along with Wisconsin, had declined to participate in the upcoming EA NCAA Football video game set to release next summer.
He has since deleted the tweet.
Predictably, rival Big 12 fan bases jumped up and down on TCU, its fans and athletic director Jeremiah Donati for the decision, while Frogs fans also questioned the veracity of the claim.
Fortunately, it didn’t take long for Donati to set the record straight.
One person with knowledge of the situation told Frogs Today that TCU opted in to the video game over two years ago.
Soon, TCU fans and fans of college football in general will be able to play as the Horned Frogs in the first updated version of the game since 2013.
While it seems somewhat trivial, don’t underestimate the recruiting power of a video game.
The full series of EA Sports titles drew more than 230 million players in the 2020 fiscal year, and Electronic Arts Inc. pulled in over $7 billion in revenue for fiscal year 2022.
Being part of the first college football video game in a decade is one of the easiest marketing wins a school can get.
Opting out simply doesn’t make sense, especially in the age of Name, Image and Likeness, where student-athletes are working to build their personal brand. It would be a tough sell for a coaching staff to make: Come to one of the only schools where you won’t be in a nationally beloved video game.
TCU and Sonny Dykes won’t have to jump over that hurdle. The only question that remains is, how many TCU fans will create a player in Road to Glory mode and lead the Frogs to a national championship?
