NCAA Football 14 News Post

EA/CLC Settlement With O'Bannon Team Is $40 Million

02:19 PM - September 27, 2013 by RaychelSnr

The settlement total for EA and the CLC in their part of the college athlete likenesses lawsuits which brought an end to the NCAA Football series is valued at $40 million according to the NY Times.

The settlement affects 125,000 current and former college basketball and football players and ends up averaging just about $320 per player -- which is still too high given the presence of lawyers fees and such which would lower the total payout per player.

The total monetary number is actually quite a bit smaller than you'd expect, and much smaller than if the case had actually gone to trial. From a business standpoint, the $40 million itself was likely not necessarily a reason for axing NCAA Football. What we haven't heard yet are the other terms of the settlement, one of which could very well have been that EA Sports couldn't develop a college football game for x number of years.

We'll keep digging to see what we can find -- most likely additional details of the settlement will continue to leak out in the days and weeks to come.

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Member Comments

# 41 jerwoods @ 09/27/13 06:57 PM

if i was EA and knew let say in dec 2012 that this was going to be my last ncaa game most likely for good

i would have done this
1 Add a Custom Playoff 4'8'12'16
2 add all 1-a and 1-aa teams
add all 1-aa conf
3 add storming the field after a big win
in dynasty mode add loss of scholarships bowl bans
add all uni
4 put in a stadium editor

# 42 da ThRONe @ 09/27/13 07:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sportzbro


	You made the decision to play. You knew the risks. Why is that so hard to understand? And students also generate "millions" by developing technology, cures, figuring out formulas, producing top talent that enters the work force. By them succeeding, more students want to go to that university. It's not all about you.

And you make the decision to go to the school. That doesn't make the escalating cost of college fair or the exploitation of college athletes fair.

You make my case. Those student who work in labs get paid through grants. Again I think the cost of colleges are criminal and something should be done about it. However that's not the discussion here. Also forbiding athletes from accepting money and/or signing endorsement deals doesn't have any impact on your tuition.

Quote:


	10K per semester for this regular student. Stop putting yourself on a pedestal.

It's no pedestal just common sense. Nothing prevents you from accepting money or working. If you can work for Mircosoft for a summer and they want to pay you however much they are more than welcome to. Student athlete not so much.

# 43 jyoung @ 09/27/13 07:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sportzbro


	Yes, and that VIP treatment you mention is where the compensation should end. What about the kids that get academic scholarships - Should they be compensated on top of the scholarship for increasing program rankings/job placement/etc.

Student stipends are already an extremely common practice among universities. In addition to their academic scholarships, many students receive thousands of dollars each semester for doing work, research or teaching outside their classroom responsibilities.

Athletes are pretty much the only type of students who can't receive stipends right now because of the NCAA's archaic amateurism rules.

Yet they do just as much work, if not more, for a university than a teacher assistant or a research assistant does.

# 44 Crimsontide27 @ 09/27/13 07:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jerwoods


	if i was EA and knew let say in dec 2012 that this was going to be my last ncaa game most likely for good i would have done this 1 Add a Custom Playoff 4'8'12'16 2 add all 1-a and 1-aa teams add all 1-aa conf 3 add storming the field after a big win in dynasty mode add loss of scholarships bowl bans add all uni 4 put in a stadium editor

There was a copy already with storming the field, it was removed from the retail version due to outside pressure.

# 45 ubernoob @ 09/27/13 07:55 PM

All athletes should be entitled to their fair share?

Yup. And every employee at Nike should get paid like Jordan since they do all the work too.

# 46 mcpats @ 09/27/13 08:19 PM

Universities won't pay ANY of their student-athletes, but any NCAA athlete can be free to persue any outside endorsements or compensation that are available to them...seems pretty simple.

On a side note I wonder how many kids that were going to be freshmen football players next year will be bummed out that they can't play as themselves in next years college game?

One other question: Does Ed O'Bannon get a larger portion of the settlement since he's one of the named litigants?

# 47 sportzbro @ 09/27/13 08:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dogslax41


	Life was so terrible...no. Would I do it all over again in a heartbeat absolutely but to sit and listen to a jocksniffer tell me that playing D1 ball doesn't require serious life altering sacrifices then yes that gets on my nerves. A PRIVILEGE that every single one of us worked non stop for pre-college and in college and earned. At no point did I ever say it was unfair. What I said was you have ZERO room to trivialize the sacrifices athletes make.

You've done nothing but perpetuate the general stereotypes people have about players. Jock sniffer? Definitely have the mentality I'd expect - and you got me... totally jealous of your bum knees, post-concussion syndrome, and your very short-lived glory days. You aren't some badass warrior - you played a sport. Get over yourself.

# 48 NDAlum @ 09/27/13 08:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by da ThRONe


	And you make the decision to go to the school. That doesn't make the escalating cost of college fair or the exploitation of college athletes fair.

This kind of statement is ridiculous in my opinion. Exploitation is such a strong word and has no reason to be part of this conversation.

However it's clear you feel it is. I just want to say I 1,000% disagree with you and I was a D-1 college athlete. Life was pretty damn good.

# 49 jerwoods @ 09/27/13 08:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crimsontide27


	There was a copy already with storming the field, it was removed from the retail version due to outside pressure.

i understand if the ncaa does not like that in their game

but since they never will be another ncaa video game i just would have kept that secret until the release

and i would had cut the price to 35 bucks as well yes they would have been upset but since EA will make no more college football games what do they have to lose

# 50 ubernoob @ 09/27/13 09:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sam Marlowe


	Way to live up to your name...wow

Using Texas A&M as an easy example since they're at the forefront of everyone's mind.

They were doing just as well before Johnny Football and they'll do just as well after.

I have yet to see one good argument for paying players and I haven't seen one good solution for ways that a player cans profit from his likeness without opening a whole new method of "dirty recruiting".

Edit: this has so many layers to it just saying "pay the players" is a non-argument that gets everyone nowhere.

# 51 khaliib @ 09/27/13 09:20 PM

As a former D1 football player, the final life lesson I obtained my last semester as a non-athlete is that Post-secondary education is the greatest/most successful business model being used today.

That's why administrators make six-figure incomes (plus perks: ie houses, cars etc...), while the front-line workers (instructors) are paid a minimum of 50% less than them.

Walk into a bank as a non-student and ask for a $5000 personal loan and they'll look at you crazy.
Apply for a loan through the school as a student, and you get minimum $20,000 without question.

It's a business whether you're a student-athlete or a non-athlete, that uses a corporation business model "Top-Down" and is linked heavily in the Stock Markets.

What often is lost in the debate (athlete vs regular student) is that both are mediums used for profit.
Profits just come through them through different structures.

Another thought is if "Education" is the foundation to be considered, why/how does an independent corporation (NCAA) have so much power/influence over these educational institutions, when they have no application to the actual instructural aspect of teaching?
(ask any instructor how much or their compensation comes from/through the NCAA).

Again, it's a business and every participant in the system should be able to earn as much as possible in any way that's legal while in the system.

Lastly, many of these so-called "free" education analogies are actually funded by federal dollars called grants. Full ride scholarships went out the window about 25 yrs ago when universities/athletic dept's saw that they could take these grants and supplement the remainder cost with donations from donors/companies (which are big educational/charity tax write-offs) then revenues earned (allowing them to keep more).

We actually did a break-down of what an student-athlete actually is making on average per hour for the amount of hours that are put in over the course of a year based on the actual value of that scholarship (cost - grant - donations = revenue needed) that the athlete(s) must make.

On top of this is the fact that not all sports generate revenues, so the athletes in the money making sports are also carrying the burden of working/generating revenues for those athletes in non-revenue generating sports.
(how many non-athlete students can say that part of their sacrifice helps to pay another students education/athletic participation?)

It's not as cut-n-dry being a D1 Athlete as some think it is.

I'm glad this case has caused a more in-depth look into this aspect of how "Students" as a whole are abused/used for profits.

Video game wise, just create a football game with an in-depth "Editor" which will allow gamers/community to create these teams at no additional cost the to developer.
This is what they call a cost-savings in business, right?

Maybe this will force the next college football developer to focus on the actual simulation of the sport and not depend on the marketing name(s) of the NCAA/Colleges to sell the product.

There's good and bad on both sides, but after an entire generation of console were the actual simulated representation of the sport by one developer has been questioned/complained/argued, if this helps to break the stronghold of developement by one developer, I'm all for it.

Don't know what I would do without Xan's Editor with this game!!!

# 52 ubernoob @ 09/27/13 09:29 PM

How would these players feel if they were given the option?

All team and school rules would apply, there would be NO differentiating between players like this.

Option A: Full ride scholarship, everything stays as it is today.

Option B: You have to pay for school, be enrolled, maintain your GPA and everything else. You just get to profit from your likeness.

Again letting someone profit off their likeness, who's to say that all the boosters don't just pay insane amounts for autographs once they get to the school? Unless you guys think that's fine.

Honestly, I could not care less about the potential for recruiting abuse. I can just see plenty of people whining about that after championing players being able to profit.

# 53 lord_mike @ 09/27/13 09:52 PM

So, as expected, the greedy players will get a few hundred bucks for their trouble. Was it worth it?

The NCAA will never pay college athletes, ever. If they have to cut out TV. If they will have to shut down college athletics entirely, they will do it. Just listen to what Big 10 commissioner Delaney said yesterday. They are ready to start scaling back the exposure of college athletics and are prepared to do it severely if they have to. Paying players is the hill they are going to die on. It's the make or break issue for them. If college athletes are to be paid, then college athletics will not be worth it for them. They are serious about this. The university presidents are absolutely committed to this. If it means the literal end of collegiate sports as we know it, then so be it. They will pull the plug. They are ready to do it. They aren't bluffing.

# 54 m1ke_nyc @ 09/27/13 10:01 PM

I think in the next 10 years schools particularly the schools in the power conferences are just gonna leave the NCAA and form their own governing body. They will allow players to profit from their name and may even pay them. They dont need the NCAA to schedule a football game.

# 55 ubernoob @ 09/27/13 10:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ratedmoney


	I think in the next 10 years schools particularly the schools in the power conferences are just gonna leave the NCAA and form their own governing body. They will allow players to profit from their name and may even pay them. They dont need the NCAA to schedule a football game.

Um... The schools are the ones that don't want to pay them. That's money out of their pocket.

That's like people complaining when a commissioner of a pro league makes a decision benefiting owners at the players expense. The commish is voted on by the owners to work for the owners.

# 56 brandon27 @ 09/27/13 10:10 PM

$320 per player... wow? That's just crazy that's what this was all over. I mean, I know its about alot more than that, the ability to market themselves etc. etc... but just seems crazy. I just dont know what to think about this whole situation anymore. All I know, it sucks we're not going to have a game next year, on next gen.

# 57 Kaiser Wilhelm @ 09/27/13 10:51 PM

Slightly off-topic, if it were up to you and you alone (you being the one reading this right now), what would you do if you were in the NCAA's or institution's position?

Being the idealist I am, I would rather scale back collegiate athletics than abandon amateurism. I would of course use the military academies as the epitome of my system. Oh, and I'd require a high school 3.0 GPA to even qualify for a athletic scholarship and a minimum 2.7 GPA to maintain eligibility.

# 58 ubernoob @ 09/27/13 10:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kaiser Wilhelm


	Slightly off-topic, if it were up to you and you alone (you being the one reading this right now), what would you do if you were in the NCAA's or institution's position? Being the idealist I am, I would rather scale back collegiate athletics than abandon amateurism. I would of course use the military academies as the epitome of my system. Oh, and I'd require a high school 3.0 GPA to even qualify for a athletic scholarship and a minimum 2.7 GPA to maintain eligibility.

Same boat as you here. I'm not from the South and I don't plan my Saturday's around watching some teens play football.

I'll watch a Wisconsin game if I'm home and it's on - but I would do that even if they scaled everything back and actually treated it as an actual amateur sport.

# 59 mjarz02 @ 09/27/13 11:23 PM

There is really one winner in this case and that is the lawyers who represented the athletes. The irony here is the players were going after EA and the NCAA for being exploited. However the lawyers ended up exploiting the players and cashed in.

Congrats on taking a stand...

# 60 Caius101 @ 09/27/13 11:26 PM

I think the NCAA does push things a bit far in how the constantly berate and punish players over stupid things- also punish the schools over some very stupid things where students 'profiting' goes... however, I will -never- agree that a student athlete should be PAID to play (or compensated with money for their likeness) when they're getting an education that is worth $80,000 - 200,000+ depending upon the college they committed to. That... that is just stupid. Add on the fact this whole lawsuit was started by a group of losers looking to profit for themselves... *shakes head*

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