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

[bkrich83]

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

The more I think about it, the less I think it's even an issue. So some oil baron from Texas wants to drop 10k and a new car on some kid for him to play for UT. So what? Who actually gets hurt by this?

"Amateurism" as a sports concept is a 19th century invention by the upper classes to preclude the poor from competing in sports they cherished. The reason we hold onto it so dearly is because of the sanctity of history and our support for the status quo. In many ways, amateur athletics is antithetical to the American ideals of hard work and profit.

Allow them to make money however they want. Forbid the schools from paying them directly, freeing them from any liability or Title IX issues, and stipulate/reinforce that the students have to report all money gained as income.

If the NCAA suspects shady, unregulated dealings, they can try to get the Feds to come down on the suspects for tax evasion.

Obviously there will be issues, but it's not like NCAA football has been a paragon of virtue for the last 30 years.

As for the game, once the legal hassles are tied up, someone will make a game. They're not just going to leave money on the table. Someone will pick up the license. Quite possibly someone like Sports Interactive who will make a simulation (similar to Football Manager or Out of the Park Baseball).

This is realistic to you? You think this is a good idea? For real?

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[loccdogg26]

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

Between this franchise (early years-NCAA 06 XBOX) and NCAA Gamebreaker on PS1 and PS2 I had a lot of fun. But hey it is what it is and there is no need to be mad about it.

[Forestman]

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

No reason to expect old sports titles on this service.







Wishful thinking at best. These exact circumstances? Absolutely not.

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I hope Madden wouldn't suffer the same fate and we loose yet another game.

[RedSoxFox7]

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

If this was the case why would ea bother?

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For the same reason they get licensing from the NFL and NFLPA, MLB and MLBPA, NHL and NHLPA, NBA and NBPA.

Because it would mean they can actually make another NCAA game.

[bkrich83]

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

For the same reason they get licensing from the NFL and NFLPA, MLB and MLBPA, NHL and NHLPA, NBA and NBPA.

Because it would mean they can actually make another NCAA game.

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.

[RedSoxFox7]

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

Because it is not allowed. I know teams do it and get away with it, but believe it or not there are programs who do not do it. If you allow all schools to do it, those with deeper pockets will run the show. Its a pretty simple concept really. It might be happening now behind closed doors, but allowing it out in the open is a whole new beast.

So like he implied, it happening out in the open changes nothing. The schools with the deeper pockets (and deeper booster pockets) are already running the show, and they'll continue running the show.

If anything, it would actually allow smaller programs a chance to get competitive more quickly if they've got alumni that really want to make it happen.

[RedSoxFox7]

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

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]

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

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

[ND fan 84]

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

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]

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

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]

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

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]

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

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]

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

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.

[Go_Dawgs]

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

That sucks I have been buying ncaa since 07 I love this damn game. I always buy ncaa and wont even buy madden . guess I'll have no choice but to stick to ncaa 14.