EA Files Motion to Be Dismissed from O'Bannon Case

[RaychelSnr]

In the ever evolving Ed O'Bannon vs. NCAA/EA/The World case, it seems Electronic Arts is now attempting to be dismissed from the case.

In the motion, EA claims:

Quote:

"[The plaintiffs' complaint] pleads no facts to support their theory that Electronic Arts Inc. participated in an antitrust conspiracy with the NCAA and the Collegiate Licensing company," EA contends in its filing. "All [the complaint] alleges is that EA agreed to follow the NICAA's rules regarding using student athletes' names and likenesses. That is not a viable antitrust claim."

Pending a trial, appeals, and more -- we are still years away from a resolution in this case which means gamers probably have nothing to worry about short term with regards to college sports gaming now that EA has inked a new multi-year deal with the CLC.

[JLoco11]

EA is still holding on to their wildcard argument!

Doubtful this will be tossed out, in a civil case you don't need to present your facts at pre-motion hearings, so EA is just creating more paperwork and headlines knowing this isn't going to work. It's just driving up O'Bannon's legal fees.

Once the trial starts, EA is going to use their number 1 defense "We followed NCAA rules barring payments... Yes we used their likeness, but the NCAA rules still state they cannot receive payments as amateurs... therefore we owe Keller & O'Bannon nothing".

Only reason the NCAA is sh!tting bricks is because as a non-profit, they made a boatload of profit off this deal. Their hypocrisy will be on trial, and EA can sit back and let their former business partner take the fall.

[XxJustAguessxX]

Haha this case isn't going anywhere but ultimately I do not believe Keller/O'bannon will win. Ncaa makes too much money and the guys who will decide the case are pals with the ncaa.

[mva5580]

I really wouldn't be surprised at all if some point EA says "forget it, this game isn't worth our trouble."

Let's face it, if you were to rank the heavy hitters in the EA Sports lineup, NCAA Football is what. 3rd or 4th on the list? Madden and FIFA are most definitely more important to EA, and I'd wager NHL is probably above it as well. It's not like NCAA sells an absolute ton either; I mean it does fine for what it is, but it's not like this is a title that EA puts at the top of its portfolio.

Between the NCAA dumping the license, and now what this could potentially become, there have to be some people at EA questioning whether or not this series is worth continuing.

[Gramps91]

Hopefully something is resolved soon. I want a college basketball game and this case certainly isn't helping issues

[Feldman011teen]

My question is this. If EA has had an "exclusive" deal with the NCAA, and now can't do anything with it, they went through the CLC. Why couldn't any other publisher such as 2K or Sony done the same?

[billtom]

So this is what ea has been working on instead of a patch...

[BleedGreen710]

"having a college football game is all that matters to me,

we don't need the NCAA its all about the CLC"