On Thursday, the NCAA and five power conferences agreed to a historic arrangement that allows schools to directly pay athletes, while also including revenue sharing among programs. All 134 Division I college football programs will receive some cash from the EA Sports College Football 25 video game that is set to be released in July. Notably, Alabama, being tied with Ohio State, and Clemson, was awarded 10 points, placing them in the Tier 1 category of college football programs.

Under former head coach Nick Saban, Alabama won three national titles and made the College Football Playoff on three other occasions, consistently finishing in the top 5, except in 2019 when they ranked No. 13. This impressive record justified their spot in Tier 1. However, controversy arose when some less impressive programs made it into the top tiers, sparking outrage among college football fans.

Alabama achieves Tier 1 in EA Sports’ College Football 25

As per Sidеlinе Bama’s updatе on May 26, head Kalen DeBoer and his team were reportedly “paid $99,875 to bе fеaturеd in EA Sports’ upcoming Collеgе Football 25 (CF25)” game. Thе payouts were dеtеrminеd basеd on a tier system, which considеrеd AP Top 25 finishеs ovеr thе last dеcadе.

According to Athlon Sports, in comparison to the Tier 1 payout, Tier 2 schools are set to receive $59,925.09, while Tier 3 schools will get $39,950.06, and Tier 4 schools will be awarded $9,987.52. The full tier list, courtesy of cllct.com, illustrates how teams from the ACC, SEC, Big 10, Big 12, and Pac 12 are distributed across the four tiers.

However, the inclusion of the Iowa Hawkeyes in Tier 1 and Auburn Tigers in Tier 2 sparked controversy among fans who took to Twitter to express their disagreement with the rankings. One Alabama fan account, @BamaWaldo, voiced frustration, tweeting, “Iowa is straight up robbing EA.” Other fans echoed this sentiment, criticizing the tier placements of both Iowa and Auburn.

Fans unleashed fury over Iowa and Auburn’s Tier placements

Other notable comments included sentiments like “Tier 2 is too high for Auburn” and “Auburn should be in Tier 4.” Another fan dismissed the list as unrealistic, saying, “This is crazy lmao calling Iowa a Tier 1 football school is mad.”

Others expressed disbelief and labeled the placement as “fake” witnessing Oklahoma State, Notre Dame, Utah, and Iowa were placed in Tier 1, with one comment reading, “Imagine paying Alabama and Iowa or Oklahoma State the same.”

The tier system, which placed Alabama, Ohio State, and Clemson in Tier 1, is based solely on performance metrics without considering conference affiliations. Schools will receive additional payments depending on the game’s success, with a 10 percent royalty on sales.

However, it is unclear whether this royalty is based on net or gross sales. The controversy underscores fan discontent with the perceived misalignment between historical performance and EA’s tier rankings.