ESPN denies accusation by Extra Points’ Matt Brown that it stole his AD simulator game idea

The job of a university athletic director has never been more interesting. The confluence of NIL and direct payments, along with constant conference realignment and an ever-expanding postseason, has dramatically changed the job description for college ADs to the point that it can seem like a video game.

Or at least that’s what ESPN’s website team was probably thinking when it launched an interactive athletic director simulator game on Tuesday.

For college sports fanatics, sports management students, and the legions of big sports nerds out there, the simulator could be a really great way to understand the college landscape and how complex it has become.

Unfortunately for ESPN, such a game already existed, courtesy of the college sports investigative outlet Extra Points and its publisher, Matt Brown.

When ESPN announced the simulator, Brown immediately noted the strong similarities between his product and theirs, accusing the Worldwide Leader of stealing his idea.

“cool idea espn,” Brown wrote on X, alongside a link to the Extra Points simulator. “but I think I like the original better”

anyway, if you see this and think “boy, what a neat idea”, have I got a computer game for YOUhttps://t.co/OnyPoLCzfp

— Matt Brown (@MattBrownEP) December 16, 2025

ESPN’s initial promotional post on X has since been deleted.

Indeed, both games are remarkably similar. They each begin by selecting a school, followed by a series of decisions on issues such as scheduling, hiring, and business contracts.

The Extra Points version has a retro 8-bit feel with multiple-choice questions, while the ESPN animation is glossier, with sliding scales for budgeting; both effectively pose the same challenges and riddles for the player. ESPN’s version notably includes the recent addition of direct payments to student-athletes, made possible by a legal ruling this past summer, whereas Brown’s does not.

For its part, ESPN denies that it intentionally copied Brown’s game.

“ESPN regularly produces gamifications like this college athletics administration game as part of our editorial coverage and visual storytelling. This game is an original design and production of ESPN,” the company said in a statement.

“He built an interesting game. We built a different game. We hope people play and enjoy both.”

ESPN noted that it produces many interactive visual pages and gamified experiences on its website, including its Sports Misery Index.

Over at Extra Points, Brown said he received so much traffic to the game site that he had to upgrade his servers and remove the paywall.