Video Game Publisher Electronic Arts Plans to Revive its Popular College Football Video Game
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It’s in the Game…Again: Video Game Publisher Electronic Arts -- a Co-Defendant in Landmark College Athletes’ NIL Lawsuit -- Plans to Revive its Popular College Football Video Game
Electronic Arts (EA/EA Sports) announces the return of college football to its video game line
Prior iterations of EA Sports college football and basketball games were catalysts to lawsuits brought by former student-athletes for EA’s allegedly impermissible use of NIL
NCAA institutions within the Collegiate Licensing Company umbrella have granted a license to EA Sports to use their schools’ marks, logos, uniforms, and stadiums
EA Sports asserts that student-athlete names, images and likenesses (NIL) will not be applicable, as characters will not be identifiable
EA Sports settled lawsuits in mid-2010s and qualifying former college football and basketball student-athletes received settlement in checks in $1-2K range
The NCAA, by name, isn’t mentioned in EA’s recent announcement or game title
With NCAA NIL proposals pending, NCAA rules continue to restrict student-athletes’ ability to use NIL for commercial gain
To preserve eligibility, NCAA Schools or student-athletes must continue to send cease-and-desist letters to companies misappropriating a student-athlete’s NIL
According to its press release from earlier this month, video game developer Electronic Arts Inc (EA/EA Sports) is bringing back its popular EA Sports college football game. Partnering with Collegiate Licensing Company (CLC), the nation’s leading collegiate trademark licensing company, EA Sports announced it will be the exclusive developer of simulation college football video game experiences.
The demand for the return of its college sports games -- especially NCAA Football -- has been made abundantly clear to EA Sports over the past several years.
"We’ve heard from the millions of passionate fans requesting the return of college football video games,” said Cam Weber, EA Sports EVP and GM. “We love the energy, tradition and pageantry of college football and I am beyond thrilled to say we are back in development. We have a lot of really exciting work ahead of us, and a great team that is eager to bring a new game to players in the next couple of years.”
“We’re very excited to collaborate with EA Sports to bring back the college football franchise, one of the most popular collegiate licensed products in our history,” said Cory Moss, CLC CEO. “The college football video game connects passionate fans to college brands and introduces new fans to the storied traditions, excitement, and game day experience that make college football unique.”
The hope is the new EA Sports franchise will deliver authentic college football experiences and the high-quality gameplay that fans have long loved in college football games. Through the CLC partnership, the franchise will include the rights to more than 100 institutions featuring the logos, stadiums, uniforms, game day traditions fans have come to expect. While this college game will not include student-athlete names, images and likenesses (NIL), EA Sports is continuing to watch those developments closely.
EA Sports reaches gamers all around the globe, and in the past year introduced six new console and PC experiences, as well as ongoing live service offerings on PC and mobile. EA Sports franchises delivered sports entertainment to millions of fans with an array of authentic, deep experiences that brought players closer to the sports, teams, and leagues that they love.
In ESPN’s report, Michael Rothstein and Dan Murphy noted that the NCAA rules don’t need any changes for EA Sports to proceed with an official title.
“Current NCAA rules prohibit EA Sports from paying players to use their names, images, and likenesses in the game,” they write. “If those rules are still in effect when the game is released, EA Sports plans to include real details such as team names, mascots, and uniforms but not anything that would resemble the real players on those rosters. EA Sports announced it would stop making its college football game in 2013 shortly before the company agreed to pay part of a reported $40M to former college players to settle a lawsuit filed by former UCLA basketball player Ed O’Bannon. The lawsuit argued that it was illegal for EA Sports to sell a game with characters that looked strikingly similar to real athletes without paying those athletes.”
The ESPN report also noted that players associations at the professional level broker licensing deals with video games makers, but the NCAA says players shouldn't be allowed to form a union (like a players association) because they are students, not employees. While a traditional union isn't essential to setting up the organization needed for collective bargaining, NCAA leaders have so far tried to steer clear of any kind of arrangement that would create a mechanism for athletes to negotiate as a group.
Forbes sports and gaming journalist Brian Mazique told Deadspin that the absence of “NCAA” in the game’s title will not affect the product’s release, because they’ve already signed a deal with the CLC instead.
“EA secured the CLC license, which gives them access to over 200 schools’ logos, uniforms, signature celebrations, and pageantry,” Mazique told Deadspin. “In fact, the absence of the [NCAA] license could create even more freedom for developers to allow fans to craft their own custom postseason structure. 16-team or maybe even 32-team playoff formats. Perhaps even a return to a BCS-style system, though it would be named something different.”
It is important for university leaders to understand CLC’s role within the college athletics marketplace. CLC is the nation’s leading collegiate trademark licensing company and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1981, CLC is a part of Learfield IMG College, the leading media and technology services company in intercollegiate athletics. According to the press release, CLC’s mission to elevate college brands through insight and innovation. The company is uniquely positioned to deliver consumer connections and brand visibility for institutions through data-based, customized solutions that include impactful licensed merchandise strategies and innovative marketing platforms to navigate the ever-evolving consumer and retail marketplace.
Between the surging popularity of esports, the multitude of layers that were already present in college sports video games (i.e. recruiting, scouting and financial responsibilities) and the changes that have shaped the gaming industry over the past decade, a college football video game appears to be well-positioned to succeed in the current marketplace.
“Before online play and esports really took off, NCAA Football had one of the most robust dynasty modes in sports video games,” NBA 2K League correspondent and HQ Trivia host Jeff Eisenband told Deadspin. “Scouting, recruiting, conference realignment, schedule-making, these are things you couldn’t do in video games based around professional sports. You could turn Bowling Green into the next Alabama if you wanted.”
Some colleges have started esports programs with many others exploring the shallow end to see where gaming and esports could serve as a driver for enrollment, educational programming and revenue. One dynamic unique to present-day gaming is the wide participation in online gaming rather than being restricted to playing solely against the game’s AI or a friend who is in the same room.
“I think online play could especially be interesting here from the collegiate level,” Eisenband told Deadspin. “Could you have college esports athletes representing their schools and actually playing as the teams, featuring logos, jerseys, etc.? There are going to be some legal parameters, but there is a way to do this that benefits everyone: student-athletes, student-gamers, the academic institutions, athletic departments, EA Sports, etc. It’s important to note this game is coming out as EA Sports College Football, not NCAA Football. That suggests the legal conversations will include a direct conversation with the players, as opposed to solely the NCAA.”
Although we would not anticipate EA Sports using current student-athletes’ NIL in the next edition of their college football video game, in the event any video game company did use a student-athletes’ NIL without permission, NCAA rules would require the student-athlete (or his or her institution on their behalf) to take steps to stop such activity in order to retain his or her eligibility in their sport -- namely sending a written cease-and-desist letter to the company misappropriating the student-athletes’ NIL. Until NIL rules change within the NCAA manual, this remains the current rule.
It will be interesting to see how Electronic Arts and other video game publishing companies pivot once permissive NIL rules are enacted and whether group-licensing by college athletes becomes part of the overall transaction and video game development.
Once the new EA Sports College Football game lands in stores, student-athletes may not only be playing the newest game in their dorms and apartments, they may also be scanning the game closely for their jersey number, position, skin tone, facial features, height, weight, and other distinctive characteristics displayed within the game to see how close EA Sports walks up to the line of using identifiable student-athletes within the game.
Noting Electronic Arts was a defendant in the $40M settlement resulting from NIL litigation just a few years ago, we wonder if the player depictions in the to-be-produced EA Sports college football game will be more akin to the primitive block players of 1980s Atari Football and not the sophisticated, identifiable avatars of 21st century gaming.
Athletics Veritas is presented for information purposes only and should not be considered advice or counsel on NCAA compliance matters. For guidance on NCAA rules and processes, always consult your university’s athletics compliance office, conference office, and/or the NCAA.
