O'Bannon/EA Case Money Divvied Up, Now to Ask When Can We Get NCAA Back?
 

Yesterday, Judge Claudia Wilkin granted $18.8 million of the $60 million of the EA/NCAA video game settlement to the plantiffs lawyers. That equates, as Jon Solomon reports, to 31.3% of the total money awarded to the Plantiffs.

Now that this part of the settlement is moving forward, we are still left with the age old question of when we can expect to see NCAA video games back on the market.

The answer, as we've reported on before, is simply whenever NCAA member schools decide to vote on the possibility of players being paid for their likenesses. It is possible EA and NCAA member schools could partner to create a generic college football video game (it won't be called NCAA Football as there is very little chance the NCAA and EA partner with each other again) -- but such a game would have to be completely clear of any possible litigation. That would mean completely generic rosters, no roster editing, and every detail managed.

The other option is simpler: NCAA member schools (at least the power five conferences) vote to allow for player likeness licensing in video games and then we're off and running.

For now, neither seems an immediate thing -- so we are likely still at least two to three years away from any return of college sports as AAA video game titles.

This would be a question for the lawyers I guess, but couldn't they just refrain from using "player likenesses" and allow people editing options? If every team was made up of generic players, so that none of the jersey #s or positions correlated with those in real life, would the athletes still have a suit?

Even if file sharing could only be done with flash drives or whatever, we could still get accurate rosters and the game developers wouldn't be in the wrong, would they?

After this lawsuit, there is a 0% chance anyone from EA or the NCAA schools are going to risk a 'would they?' type of question legally. It'll be 100% certain either way that there are no possible legal issues before a game returns one way or the other.

If they just go with the plan of allowing the Institutions to decide if they want to participate I think it would work.

We have seen it work outside of Football with 2k16 so it definitely could work with a proper NCAA game. The only issue would be what schools couldn't afford to participate?

Re: O'Bannon/EA Case Money Divvied Up, Now to Ask When Can We Get NCAA Back?
 

We could only hope that in the next few years that they'll be another game haha. I know this has zero to do with this thread, but I was asking around and seeing if anyone has a dynasty that I can join. Preferably one that hasn't started yet or if it has, it is in preseason, and it doesn't matter what year.

Re: O'Bannon/EA Case Money Divvied Up, Now to Ask When Can We Get NCAA Back?
 

It stinks that this was the last installment of NCAA Football. Like its a darn tragedy.

IMO game play-wise and presentation-wise, this game was a step back. The 2nd last release didnt have draft class export, so you had to go back to the 3rd last for decent presentation/gameplay... but then you have outdated graphics and importing draft classes into a poor Madden title.

The stupid videos with highlights of a game that hasn't happened yet to generic country music is so off-putting to me. Looooved the team-specific entries, shots of the stadium, etc. Game play is pretty poor IMO too. Defensive backs in particular seem to be wildly unpredictable.

Then you have the following year, new Gen consoles come out, along with the College Football playoff. We couldnt hold out for those things?

I'm glad this leg finally dropped. Now we are one step closer to clarity, and hopefully, a structure that allows NCAA Football to return. Like someone said before, EA isn't venturing back into these waters until there is 100% clarity. Can't blame them; this is a lot of money they just lost. Even if EA has billions. NBA 2K has found a way to do NCAA, but it is very limited. The prospect of NCAA Football on the XB1 with those Madden graphics and gameplay, ESPN presentation and Dynasty mode gets me geeked!

I was just thinking about this today. How great it would be to have NCAA Football back, with the College Football Playoff on the Xbox One. Hopefully they can sort things out in such a way that we get at least a game with real conferences and real bowls, even if the players are generic.