Peyton Manning's nephew Arch outfoxes publishing giant Electronic Arts and gets massive NIL payday for NCAA video game

Star college quarterback Arch Manning will reportedly receive a large payment from video game publisher Electronic Arts after months of holding out from inclusion in an upcoming game.

Manning is the youngest star of the famous football family that includes his uncles, Super Bowl winners Peyton and Eli, and his grandfather, football legend Archie Manning.

For the latest NCAA football video game published by EA, thousands of student athletes accepted the average payment of $600 and a copy of the game in exchange for their name, image, and likeness.

'I'm in the game.'

However, with Manning's name holding tremendous potential value, he was one of just a few star players who declined the offer when news started surfacing of the payments in February 2024.

It appears someone in the Manning camp made the right call, as it was just announced that the Texas quarterback is set to receive between $50,000 and $60,000 to promote the game and accepted the $600 to be included in it.

Meanwhile, college sports reporter Pete Nakos told Blaze News that cover athletes for the game received payments in the low six figures.

Manning released a promotional video for the game with his uncle Eli as news broke online.

"I'm IN the game," Manning wrote, along with the signature "horns up" emoji representing Texas.

With the large payment to Manning, it is likely that many other athletes will become holdouts for larger sums in the future. Manning's NIL value is currently ranked at No. 3 in the country, at $2.8 million. Manning is outranked only by fellow football player Shedeur Sanders, son of NFL legend Deion Sanders. Sanders sits at a valuation of $4.9 million for name, image, and likeness.

At the same time, gymnast and social media star Livvy Dunne sits in the second spot at $3.9 million.

The advent of the NIL era has empowered many student athletes to demand much higher compensation for their names, something that was outright banned before.

NFL rookie Marvin Harrison Jr., another NFL legacy athlete, is still in a legal battle over his likeness. In May 2024, Harrison Jr. was sued by apparel brand Fanatics over what the company called a failure to hold up his end of the contract. It was recently revealed that Harrison Jr. was alleged to be compensated $1.05 million over two years by the company.

Harrison Jr. has been selling memorabilia on his website after declining to sign the standard agreement with the NFL Players Association to turn over his name, image, and likeness.

He did not respond to request for comment; however, the player remarked on signing the NFLPA group licensing agreement during his introductory press conference with the Arizona Cardinals.

"I'll continue to talk to my team, and we'll do what's best for me moving forward," Harrison Jr. reportedly said. "We'll just take it one day at a time. I just got drafted, so I'm trying to enjoy the moment and be happy while I can at the moment."

On3 reported that with over 14,000 players opting in to the NCAA game, EA passed its goal of having 11,000 athletes sign up in what it called possibly the biggest NIL deal ever executed.

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