The nine-year-old College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta has added a new Microsoft gaming lounge which provides attendees a chance to play video football games on Xbox systems.
“This is a way to attract a younger, more affluent audience,” said Yomand Brown, vice president of marketing and communication for the museum during a tour of the lounge earlier this month.
The exhibit, located on the second floor, features multiple gaming stations, each equipped with the latest Xbox Series X consoles and a copy of EA Sports NCAA Football 14. Why the 2014 version? Because EA stopped making the game in 2013 after UCLA basketball player Ed O’Bannon and 20 other former college athletes sued the NCAA and the Collegiate Licensing Company for using their likenesses without permission.
It has since taken the NCAA and EA several years to clear out multiple lawsuits and enable them to compensate college football players for using their images. As a result, EA finally plans to bring the game back in 2024.
The gaming lounge will offer that new version as soon as it can. (Attendees can also play the latest NFL Madden game, which only highlights how much more realistic the gameplay has become in a decade.)
Michael Vo, visiting Atlanta from El Paso, Texas, earlier this month, was thrilled to play EA Sports NCAA Football 14 despite its age. He hadn’t played it in years. “Legit copies are hard to come by,” Vo said. “I saw one for $100 on eBay.” (Walmart is selling a refurbished version for a whopping $249.99.)
As a Florida Gator alum, he had his team play Bowling Green University. “I can’t wait to see the new version,” he said.
The museum in downtown Atlanta attracts about 350,000 visitors a year, capturing big crowds earlier this month for the SEC Championship and the Celebration Bowl at Mercedes-Benz Stadium nearby. Brown expects stellar crowds this weekend as fans of the Peach Bowl arrive.
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