Electronic Arts is bringing back its college football video game. 

The popular franchise was discontinued after its “NCAA Football 14” release in 2013. Various issues surrounding the use of NCAA, conference and school imagery, as well as player likenesses, contributed to the game’s eight-year hiatus.

Everything in that department isn’t ironed out yet, either.

“EA Sports College Football” won’t have rosters that include real-life college players for the time being.

EA did, however, ink a new partnership with the Collegiate Licensing Company to use imagery from FBS “schools, traditions, uniforms and playbooks.”

• Over 100 teams will be in the upcoming game, which is currently in the early stages of development.
• Since the series was paused, multiple colleges have licensed their team names for use in EA’s “Madden NFL” story mode. 

The NCAA was scheduled to vote in January on new rules to allow athletes to profit from the use of their name, image and likeness, but the vote was delayed.

When NIL rules do get changed — by the NCAA, individual states, or Congress — it’s far from a sure thing that the player group licensing agreements needed for a game like this would be on the table.

“We’ll just keep tabs on everything as it develops and we’ll be ready,” EA Vice President Daryl Holt told ESPN. “That’s been going on for a while and certainly wasn’t a ‘Wait to see what happens here,’ even as continued legislation gets proposed.”

“EA Sports College Football” isn’t expected to launch for at least a year.

Playstudios Inc. plans to go public through a SPAC merger that values the company at $1.1 billion.

The mobile game developer will merge with Acies Acquisition Corp., led by chairman Jim Murren, the former MGM Resorts International CEO. The deal is expected to close in the second quarter.

Playstudios develops gambling-style mobile games like slot machines and blackjack and offers real-world rewards through a loyalty program. 

Like other mobile-friendly products, the pandemic had a positive effect on its business.

• Playstudios had an estimated $274 million in revenue for 2020.
• The global market for social casino games grew to $7 billion last year, up 24% from 2019.

Investors including MGM Resorts, BlackRock and ClearBridge Investments have agreed to a $250 million investment in the new combined company, which will have an estimated $290 million total in cash. MGM backed Playstudios’ 2011 launch and contributes to the developer’s reward program.

Eilers and Krejcik Gaming predicts the social-casino market will rise to $8.6 billion by 2025.

Former Houston Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow and a slew of sports executives filed for a new special purpose acquisition company, SportsTek Acquisition Corp., seeking to raise $125 million in an IPO.

SportsTek is targeting acquisitions in sports and “related sectors,” including “sports franchises, media, data analytics, and technology services businesses serving those end markets, among others.”

Formula One promoter Tavo Hellmund and former professional baseball player and scout-turned-banker Tim Clark are joining Luhnow on the SPAC’s management team. 

Among the other execs involved are San Antonio Spurs CEO R.C. Buford, former Dignitas vice president of esports Sebastian Park, and Monumental Sports chief planning and operations officer for basketball Sashi Brown. Monumental owns the Washington Wizards and Capitals. 

• Luhnow was dismissed from the Astros in January 2020 and handed a one-year ban from MLB in the fallout from the team’s sign-stealing scandal. 
• He spent 2020 working with “multiple investment groups targeting investments in baseball, soccer and e-sports,” according to the prospectus filed on Monday.

Over the last year or so, SPACs have become the “it” way to take companies public. There are currently around 40 sports-related SPACS, per Sportico. 

More than 250 SPAC shell companies combined to raise over $78 billion in the U.S. last year.