NCAA Football 14 News Post

NCAA Sues EA and CLC for Breaching Contract

11:23 PM - November 20, 2013 by Hooe

The NCAA is suing EA and the CLC for what it is calling, "breaches of contract" stemming from the Ed O'Bannon case. The suit seeks to block the proposed settlement between EA & the CLC/O'Bannon from going through.

This is an interesting move from the NCAA, and potentially one of desperation to try to keep the case focused in as diverse a manner as possible so that they don't bear the brunt of the suit which now only names them in it. The O'Bannon case is largely the reason the NCAA Football series was cancelled by EA Sports earlier this fall.

The souring EA/NCAA relationship pretty much means there's no much of a chance of an officially licensed NCAA video game product anytime soon -- if there was even a chance beforehand.

What do you all think?

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# 1 tarheelguy4736 @ 11/20/13 11:36 PM

This will get thrown out by the court. There just isn't anything in here that a judge would deem appropriate to over turn the settlement. This is just the NCAAs way of trying to control everything. the NCAA has just become ridiculous and has proven time and time again that no one trusts their judgement in any matter that they are involved. NCAA has no chance of winning this suit.

# 2 Jr. @ 11/20/13 11:41 PM

Yeah, I can't imagine this going very far. The NCAA signs off on what these companies sell/promote regarding the NCAA license, so they were giving these companies the 'OK' to do what they were doing which caused the lawsuit.

# 3 mattynokes @ 11/21/13 02:33 PM

I think it's a shame that the NCAA can still sell #5 or #10 Ohio State jerseys and get away with it. But, EA Sports does it on a video game and they lose a lawsuit.

The NCAA should've been the ones hurt by the O'Bannon lawsuit in the first place. EA Sports was simply following the likeness guidelines given to them by the NCAA.

# 4 GGGswim @ 11/21/13 02:43 PM

At work right now, with the article I read earlier still at home, but if I recall correctly, the lawsuit against EA has something to do with it not having enough insurance coverage, and against CLC for lack of oversight of EA for what it was producing within the NCAA series.

First suit seems like it would be easy to prove or disprove, however I have no idea what would be considered the appropriate amt of coverage nor how that is determined.
The CLC suit seems to me that it would be very hard to find facts to support a decision for the NCAA.

When I read the story, the first thing that came into my head was the fact that the NCAA doesn't give a damn about FIFA, The Sims, Battlefield, Madden or NCAA '15. If they can get out of the original (O'Bannon/Keller) lawsuit -- and I think today's news makes it crystal clear they are ticked about being hung out to dry by CLC and EA -- by bankrupting a company, so be it. Just as long as the NCAA isn't on the hook.

Just one man's opinion, though.

# 5 Forestman @ 11/21/13 03:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GGGswim


	At work right now, with the article I read earlier still at home, but if I recall correctly, the lawsuit against EA has something to do with it not having enough insurance coverage, and against CLC for lack of oversight of EA for what it was producing within the NCAA series. First suit seems like it would be easy to prove or disprove, however I have no idea what would be considered the appropriate amt of coverage nor how that is determined. The CLC suit seems to me that it would be very hard to find facts to support a decision for the NCAA. When I read the story, the first thing that came into my head was the fact that the NCAA doesn't give a damn about FIFA, The Sims, Battlefield, Madden or NCAA '15. If they can get out of the original (O'Bannon/Keller) lawsuit -- and I think today's news makes it crystal clear they are ticked about being hung out to dry by CLC and EA -- by bankrupting a company, so be it. Just as long as the NCAA isn't on the hook. Just one man's opinion, though.

They obliviously see some money to be had or they wouldn't be suing. Sad because this probably will result in no more NCAA games for years.

# 6 Peacefrog @ 11/21/13 04:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Forestman


	They obliviously see some money to be had or they wouldn't be suing. Sad because this probably will result in no more NCAA games for years.

I'm all for it. Kill EA, let Tiburon or 2K make the sports games, give BioWare their games back. From a development point of view, I see no drawbacks to this happening. Of course, that's ignoring the financial aspects.

# 7 H4wduk3n @ 11/21/13 04:59 PM

Tiburon is EA. 2k has no reason to jump in given their distance from 2k8 now in late 2013 as well as the legal cluster this is resulting in. Risk mitigation. Plus, why would the same schools who expressed doubt about giving EA their rights do anything different for 2k?

# 8 MHammer113 @ 11/21/13 10:48 PM

The NCAA is a joke. They do anything they can to make money and they do little to protect the integrity of their product. If anything EA was promoting their product. The NCAA is too stupid to realize this

# 9 xirdneh132 @ 11/22/13 12:13 AM

This is just one of the reasons I sided with O'Bannon and the players. I know it's unpopular and I'm really going to miss NCAA football games because these games were my favorite but people who haven't figured out the NCAA need to realize the NCAA isn't about student-athletes, it isn't about fairness, it's a corrupt organization that is incompetent and greedy. NCAA was fine when EA was helping them make money but once the courts saw right through all of their arguments they decide to go after who they could, EA. I'm not an EA defender but EA was always about making money, it's a business, supposedly the NCAA is about student-athletes first but it's a joke.

# 10 Peacefrog @ 11/22/13 09:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by H4wduk3n


	Tiburon is EA. 2k has no reason to jump in given their distance from 2k8 now in late 2013 as well as the legal cluster this is resulting in. Risk mitigation. Plus, why would the same schools who expressed doubt about giving EA their rights do anything different for 2k?

Tiburon is not EA. Tiburon was a separate company bought by EA in '98, just like BioWare was bought by EA in '07. BioWare had a history of making utterly fantastic games before it was purchased by EA (Dragon Age, Mass Effect, Knights of the Old Republic, Baldur's Gate 2). Then EA took over, and their games became garbage. The last couple Dragon Age games sucked. Their MMO The Old Republic had the makings of being on-par with World of Warcraft, but it felt like it got released too early, and stopped getting support once it went live. It still feels rather unfinished. And ME3 was a PR disaster for the first few months, until they stopped focusing on the multiplayer and finished the ending. There's no reason to think that Tiburon wouldn't make a better Madden or NCAA game if they did it without EA.

After seeing the lawsuit disaster that ultimately killed NCAA Football, I'm willing to bet both EA and 2K are right now putting together dozens of business models to present to the NCAA, in hopes of getting the licensing back. It'll take a few years, to be certain, but I'm really hoping it'll be 2K this time around instead of EA.

# 11 MrSerendipity @ 11/22/13 10:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Peacefrog


	BioWare had a history of making utterly fantastic games before it was purchased by EA (Dragon Age, Mass Effect, Knights of the Old Republic, Baldur's Gate 2). Then EA took over, and their games became garbage. The last couple Dragon Age games sucked.

Last couple? There's been one Dragon Age game since the Original. The other game hasn't come out yet, so we can't formulate an opinion on whether it will "suck" or not.

# 12 JLoco11 @ 11/22/13 12:22 PM

This is all 1 gigantic legal clusterf#ck that the NCAA legal team is pulling.

Essentially there are 3 parties here: NCAA, EA, Players (O'Bannon). EA wants no part of the lawsuit, and rather let the NCAA and Players battle it out. They essentially paid $40 million to have their headache go away.

Problem is that $40 million creates a headache for the NCAA. They want to make sure nobody receives that money, which ultimately nullifies their rules. If the players get that money, that means NCAA rules on money essentially become voided... which is the heart of this mess.

NCAA doesn't want their case undermined by that payment. That payment would make the NCAA's case more difficult, so it's no surprise they want to fight it. EA is really just a middle man caught in the crossfire in this case, but the NCAA doesn't want the middle man messing up their case.

On the flip side, I wouldn't be surprised if this was orchestrated by the NCAA and EA combined. It's in the benefit (financially) for both parties for the NCAA case and rules to prevail, so I'm sure EA is not crying too much about an injunction telling them they don't have to fork over $40 million. The lawsuit won't hold up in court, but it's not that shocking to think this was Plan B or Plan C of the legal strategy

# 13 H4wduk3n @ 11/22/13 03:02 PM

Tiburon is owned by EA now, that is my only point. They are the studio that has EA's current football developers. I agree if they did not have as tight corporate oversight we may see something else or at least less constant direction changing (See Madden10->Now).
But right now EA Football is Tiburon. Same games we've been complaining about, same ones that have been better like ncaa 14, all tiburon.

# 14 alifeincomplete @ 11/22/13 05:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mattynokes


	I think it's a shame that the NCAA can still sell #5 or #10 Ohio State jerseys and get away with it. But, EA Sports does it on a video game and they lose a lawsuit. The NCAA should've been the ones hurt by the O'Bannon lawsuit in the first place. EA Sports was simply following the likeness guidelines given to them by the NCAA.

While I agree with the sentiment the lawsuit by O'Bannon -- and, in full disclosure's sake, I'm against the lawsuit -- should have targeted the NCAA itself rather than EA (in addition, I cannot get behind the mentality that says the schools and the institution they belong to (NCAA) shouldn't be allowed to sell merchandise that they own the rights to. It doesn't matter who currently wears #5 or #10 or #x, it's not that player's jersey and the team/NCAA has all the right in the world to profit from it.

Break.

I don't think the lawsuit for breach of contract will go very far. I think it's shortsighted on NCAA's part; moreso a reactionary measure than anything else.

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NCAA Sues EA and CLC for Breaching Contract