Key Takeaways
- EA SPORTS signs Elijah Haven, the No. 1 quarterback in the Class of 2027, as the first high school football player in the GEN / EA SPORTS program
- The signing makes Haven the fifth athlete in the GEN / EA SPORTS program roster alongside Travis Hunter, Alyssa Thompson, Bianca Bustamante, and Endrick
- EA SPORTS cites research showing 50% of sports fandom is formed by age 14, framing early athlete partnerships as a fan acquisition strategy
- The program is structured around co-creation rather than traditional endorsement, giving athletes input into how their stories are told across gaming, content, and culture
- A new GEN / EA SPORTS program anthem film, voiced by Lewis Hamilton, accompanies the announcement
Why EA SPORTS Is Moving Upstream
EA SPORTS has partnered with athletes for decades. What it has not done, until now, is partner with one still in high school.
On April 7, the company announced the signing of Elijah Haven, a rising senior and dual-sport athlete from Louisiana ranked as the No. 1 quarterback prospect in the Class of 2027. Haven becomes the fifth member of GEN / EA SPORTS program, a cross-franchise athlete platform the company launched in 2024 with Travis Hunter, Alyssa Thompson, Bianca Bustamante, and Endrick.
YSBR sat down with John Reseburg, VP of Marketing, Partnerships and Communications at EA SPORTS, to understand what this signing signals about the future of athlete partnerships and why the company is moving upstream.
The program is not tied to a single EA SPORTS title. Instead, it operates across the company’s gaming, content, and cultural ecosystem, positioning athletes as collaborators rather than endorsers.
John Reseburg, VP of Marketing, Partnerships and Communications at EA SPORTS, framed the move as a reflection of how fan relationships are forming earlier. “We know that 50% of sports fandom is formed by age 14, and today’s fans often feel more connected to athletes than teams or clubs,” Reseburg said. “So instead of waiting until everything is fully formed, we want to be there earlier in the journey.”
What Co-Creation Looks Like at 17
The word “co-creation” appears frequently in EA SPORTS’ positioning around the GEN / EA SPORTS program. In practice, Reseburg described a process that begins with listening.
“Co-creation means backing them as creators and culture shapers, not just names and faces promoting products,” he said. “With a 17- or 18-year-old athlete, that starts by listening: what they care about, how they want to show up, what communities matter to them, and what feels authentic to who they are at this stage of their life and career.”
For Haven, that extends well beyond football. Off the field, his interests include music, drumming, and filmmaking. EA SPORTS says the partnership is designed to support that full identity, not compress it into a single athletic narrative.
“The GEN / EA SPORTS program is about the future and that’s what I’m focused on,” Haven said. “I’m working toward the next level in football, but I’m also building my voice and my creativity. To have EA SPORTS believe in that this early in my journey means everything.”
The approach mirrors what the company has already done with existing GEN / EA SPORTS program athletes. Last year, EA SPORTS gifted Travis Hunter a custom-built gaming studio in his home to support his passion for streaming, an investment that had nothing to do with his on-field performance and everything to do with who he is off it.
A Different Evaluation Framework
Reseburg was clear that EA SPORTS was not evaluating Haven through a traditional endorsement lens.
“This was about identifying who’s next,” he said. “Who’s coming up, how are they showing up, and how are they starting to tell their story? With Elijah, we were looking at long-term potential not only as a player, but as a person, storyteller, and culture shaper.”
That distinction matters for the broader youth sports industry. As athlete identity continues to form earlier, driven by social media, NIL, and direct fan access, the timeline for brand engagement is compressing. EA SPORTS is not the first company to recognize this, but the structure of GEN / EA SPORTS program positions it as one of the first to build a formalized, cross-sport platform around the idea.
Where the GEN / EA SPORTS program Goes From Here
With five athletes now spanning football, soccer, racing, and basketball, the question is whether GEN / EA SPORTS program scales horizontally into more sports or deepens vertically within the ecosystem.
Reseburg signaled the latter. “It’s less about scale for the sake of it, and more about building deeper connections between next-gen fans and athletes,” he said. “Going forward, the focus is on continuing to build that, bringing in athletes who reflect where sport and culture are headed, and creating more ways for them to show up across gameplay, content, and community.”
The new GEN / EA SPORTS program anthem film, voiced by Lewis Hamilton, reinforces that positioning. Hamilton’s involvement adds the perspective of an athlete who has already navigated the full arc of global fame, lending credibility to a program built around those just beginning theirs.
For youth sports operators, facility owners, and brand partners watching this space, the signal is straightforward: the window for meaningful athlete engagement is moving earlier, and the companies building infrastructure around that shift are not waiting for the college or pro level to start.
Source: EA SPORTS, April 7, 2025
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