EA Sports Will Not Publish College Football Game Next Year, Future Plans in Doubt

[RedSoxFox7]

Quote: Originally Posted by bkrich83

I am not sure the profit margin they are looking at with NCAA would be worth that extra effort. I doubt they'd even bother. Unless the NCAA players were able to somehow unionize and it was like it is with say the NFLPA. No way the NCAA is going to negotiate with every individual player.

Realistically, they wouldn't really need to negotiate with every individual player. It's probably the only top 2-5% that the overwhelming majority of their customers really care about seeing, and it's only that 2-5% that would command any serious licensing money.

Whether or not that'd be a viable option might depend on the terms of their settlement.

EA could also offer a blanket licensing agreement for players who WANT their likeness in the game. Players at a one-star school might not have a lot of market value, but I'm sure plenty of them would love the opportunity to be officially immortalized in a video game. Even without an official PA, this could cover a huge portion of 95% who are only known to their own fans.

I'm sure there are plenty of other creative solutions that could arise, but none of them matter as long as the NCAA prohibits players from profiting on their own image.

[smoove7]

Whoever is responsible for this will be CGI into GTA 5 and Trevor will have a talk with you.

[ND fan 84]

Everyone seems to be missing that there will be no college game for the 2014-2015 season for sure, but there MAY still be one for future years. So I am still holding on to that last bit of hope that this game, which I grew up with (playing tournaments with my brother and cousins), will be back.

[blkrptnt819]

Quote: Originally Posted by bkrich83

To further that people aren't factoring in things like Title IX. So if you're going to start paying players, it's not going to be football players only . Not to mention the labor/Tax/Benefits laws that now come in to affect since the players would be actual employees of the school. Any notion that players are somehow going to get paid, is simply fantasy.

Dont pay them. Allow them to make money off their own name, problem solved.

[blkrptnt819]

Quote: Originally Posted by coogrfan

So I'm clear: you're advocating junking the current structure of college athletics for a system that will only benefit the top 1-2% of players? No offense, but that's ridiculous. Either every player needs to receive some form of compensation or none should.

I disagree every player should be compensated. It should be like open market. Get what you can get.

[AlterEgoDuane]

To be honest... this makes me hate all these greedy, spoiled college football/basketball players. They are AMATEURS. They should not get paid to merely play the game. That is completely outrageous and should never happen. What SHOULD happen is that they should be allowed to make money up to a certain amount, or take a cut of the money someone makes on their autograph, jerseys, media appearances, etc.

Yes, they should get a larger stipend so that when all is said and done, they have more than $60 to spend for a weekend. I'm a grown man and I still can't find a way to make $60 last. I can't imagine what it's like for a college kid, let alone a college-athlete. Another thing is, limit the amount of off-season time they spend on football and mandate that they all get jobs to make extra money and not just screw around.

Finally, I can already tell you what's going to happen if players are allowed to be compensated for marketing-related things or if the stipend goes up. It will go like this: Teams will stop marketing their star players. Schools don't want to pay players, at all. So, if there is a new rule paying players, or having them receive contributions, then you won't see any more Texas A&M #2 jerseys. They will be generic jerseys with no number or with 00 or something like that on there so that they don't have to compensate the players on the field. And also, you won't see the schools openly promoting players because they'd have to pay the player a royalty. No more Ohio State #5 jerseys. No more Alabama #10 jerseys. And you certainly won't see any official player meetings or autograph signings unless it is a fan day or something and the school doesn't have to pay the players much money at all.

What it also means is that these college games are pretty much dead. Again, schools will not want to pay their players any royalties, so, they will most likely not agree to sign on to licensing of a college game. Unless every player got some sort of small royalty like $.05 for every game sold or something. But, even that adds up to a ton of money. So, the future is indeed bleak for collegiate video games, my friends.

The only way this holds up is if somehow the NCAA wins and doesn't have to compensate players. But, judging how this lawsuit is already going, the chances of that happening are slim to none with none the heavy favorite right now.

And finally, the NCAA could settle with O'Bannon and Keller to keep things as they are and that would open up the video game market once more, but again, that seems to have a less than 0 chance of happening. But, you never know.

[Perfect Zero]

Quote: Originally Posted by ND fan 84

Everyone seems to be missing that there will be no college game for the 2014-2015 season for sure, but there MAY still be one for future years. So I am still holding on to that last bit of hope that this game, which I grew up with (playing tournaments with my brother and cousins), will be back.

It will be the greatest game since NFL 2k9.

[Forestman]

Quote: Originally Posted by ainokmw

Yes and No. Nothing catastrophic like this, though. EA is licensed to use NFL teams/logos and NFL players. The issue is that EA is only licensed to use NCAA teams/logos, but the NCAA players are not a registered body that can allow EA to use their likenesses. The NCAA and EA have been dancing a fine line by having player numbers, heights, weights, hometowns, etc. but not actually using player names. For example, DE #7 from South Carolina is suspiciously like Jadaveon Clowney, even though it doesn't have his name. Former players say the NCAA is using their likeness without consent (or, more importantly, compensation) thus the lawsuit by former players. In the NFL, players likenesses are controlled by the NFLPA, the Players Association (the players union), who grant EA the license to use the likenesses of players in exchange for money, which is doled out to the players. The NFL doesn't control this, but they do control the licensing of NFL teams and logos. As of now, EA has licensing with the NFL and the NFLPA. There is a situation where EA could lose one or both, in which case they couldn't make an NFL Madden game. The real tricky situation that came about with the exclusive licenses in 2005 is what happens if EA negotiates with the NFL for exclusive NFL license, but 2K Sports (or someone else) negotiates with the NFLPA for the players likenesses. Then you could have a situation where EA can make a Madden game with made-up players, and 2K Sports (or someone else) could make a game with Tom Brady and Peyton Manning, but playing for made-up teams. This often happened in the old days. The classic Tecmo Bowl game only had the NFLPA license, which is why Thurman Thomas would spike the ball for a "fictional" Buffalo football team.

Thanks for the detailed answer! Luckily I get the feeling this would most likely never happen due to the money potential.