The NCAA-EA Sports Divorce: Now What?

[goalieump413]

Quote: Originally Posted by JLoco11

EA's exclusive rights contract with the CLC is valid through 2014, and from there cannot be resigned do the monopoly lawsuit they lost (from the Madden series). After 2014, the license is free. The CLC can certainly enter another agreement with EA, which they certainly will, but it's no longer exclusive ONLY to EA, where 2K sports can come in and get a license as well. 2015 is the first year we could see competing NCAA games. Next year's game, is still exclusive to EA. But after next year, the license becomes available to any studio that wants to make a deal for it. There will be no more exclusive rights to games in football after 2015, and 2016 in Baseball with 2K's license ending with MLB.

I now better understand GisherJohn24's original question you answered. I took it to mean that he was asking if any publisher, including EA Sports could make a college football game next year, as if we were locked out for one development year cycle. I thought you meant that we would not see EA Sports build a college game to be released next year.

That said, this now gives other game developers ample time to build a competing product, knowing that the NCAA is now out of the way, and the pending lawsuit that EA Sports must also deal with regarding their (now legacy) title. So, does this NCAA divorce constitute a better competitive balance between, say 2K and EA?

[Frost33]

Quote: Originally Posted by GisherJohn24

Yep teams will stay. I'm worried about losing roster share and modification

Thats what I'm worried about as well. If that is gone, I will have to really consider buying the game or not. Not sure generated names will be as much fun, but then I played for years with QB 13 and RB 33 instead of names.

[collinnd2016]

I hope when EA talks to the Universities to get rights, they can get stadiums, fight songs, and uniforms right. I'm so tired of hearing that same one song over and over when I play USC

[Quint75]

If and when EA re-ups with CLC for another multi-year deal, then we'll know we are gonna have college football games for the foreseeable future. Sure hope that is in the cards.

[jmaj315]

Quote: Originally Posted by GisherJohn24

ftfy. Much better.

"An PS4"...... smh

I hope they do bring sanctions/player suspensions etc back... I thought that was awesome back in the day. I realize schools won't want to be portrayed in such a way, but they should let EA do it

Also i saw somebody say medical redshirts... YESSS!! that would be cool.. 6th year seniors lol

[TarHeelPhenom]

They taking me back to my ruts(roots). College Football USA 96 and 97 all over again baby! And yes those games had the real teams!

[lord_mike]

I've been worrying about this case for a long time. I had hoped that it might have gone away, but it hasn't, and it looks like the NCAA and probably EA is going to lose. The real losers are going to be us. If EA can't come up with a concept that allows for college football without the risk of a lawsuit, they will simply stop making the game. They've done that before, and since they are a pretty lazy company, I expect them to just end it like they did with basketball. Madden makes way more money than NCAA, so they will just cut their losses and that will be it. Some other adventurous company might come along to try and shake things up, but it won't be even close to being the same--think Backbreaker Football, college style. It might have to be from a foreign company, so they could be safe.

In a few years, everything might go back to the way it was... The supreme court will weigh in, and I bet that their conservative lean isn't going to be supportive of the players, but who knows. Congress could also step in, too, but since they can't even pass something simple as a farm bill, I wouldn't pin your hopes up on that. Maybe there will be some sort of collective bargaining agreement drawn up, or even a settlement that will clarify things. I have a hard time believing that the plaintiffs would want their future cash cow dry up, but they do seem to be exceptionally greedy, so they may end up killing the goose that laid the golden egg. Until everything is said and done, we are all in limbo.

Until everything is officially decided at the end, there will be big changes. No legitimate company is going to risk anything resembling real player likenesses. What does that mean? I don't know. For football, it's seemingly easy--don't show the players faces... ever.... but there's the question of whether a number counts as a "likeness". That may have to be falsified, too. Editable rosters are not necessarily an easy out, since O'Bannon specifically cited editable rosters as "infringing" as well. In short, you're going to have to get teams of fake players, which may or may not be user editable. Whether or not the schools go along is a question mark, too. If they bail, and many might, then everything really goes out the window. Historically, lots of games used fake players and fake teams in the past, but that was then. I have a hard time believing that a game with fake players playing fake schools is going to sell very well. I don't think that the Ann Arbor Wolves vs. the South Bend Leprechauns is going to be a big draw. So, if that happens, I suspect that the college franchise will end entirely. Even if there's a positive ruling at the end of the day, I doubt that EA will go back into a franchise that they abandoned for a few years. Someone else may fill the gap, but it will not be a high end company.

It will be interesting to see what happens with TV in all of this. Regardless, college sports are going to see a bumpy ride the next few years.

[BaronGamedi]

This whole lawsuit is a powder keg. With the grey area of amateurism, some teams will be hesitant to go against their governing body and may stay away from EA altogether for fear of biting the hand. Sure the conference studs could revolt and break off from the NCAA but thats a completely different monster, one that wouldnt be worth an annual game. Even if teams do agree to continue, burden of representation falls on them and lawsuits will still be had, it just won't be NCAAs problem anymore. Every solution comes with a high degree of peril to a major player involved that I don't believe they will want to see through.

I doubt even 2K Sports would touch this...