The only American football simulation game available, Madden, is currently developed and distributed by EA. However, their highly esteemed National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) football game has not been released since 2013 due to legal disputes concerning player likeness. To comply with NCAA regulations, previous NCAA Football games by EA did not feature the actual names and images of collegiate athletes since they are not permitted to earn income from their play, either on or off the field.
Lawsuit
However, in 2009 Sam Keller and Ed O’Bannon filed a lawsuit against EA Sports, the NCAA, and Collegiate Licensing Company (CLC) for similarities in likeness and characteristics between collegiate football players, collegiate basketball players, and the college games made by EA.
The lawsuit emanated from instances where a quarterback of Texas A&M named “QB No. 2” with an overall rating of 92 in the game had all the characteristics and likenesses of former Heisman Trophy winner, Johnny Manziel. The case settled in the summer of 2014 with over 20,000 checks issued to former Football and Basketball collegiate athletes in the following years.
The result of the lawsuit ensured EA Sports never released a new title for both NCAA Football (2013) and NCAA Basketball (2009) much to the dismay and disappointment of fans of the game. NCAA Football 14 eventually became a furor classic on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 consoles and the price for the game sometimes gets as high as $69.99 a higher cost than its original price in 2013.
EA Sports Vice President and general manager, Daryl Holt revealed that the company has listened to the outcry of the public and is willing to leverage the passion of the fans by creating another collegiate football game which will be titled “EA College Football”. Although, a release date for the game is yet to be determined or announced, and a new release seems out of the question.
Image rights and Licensing
As of now, EA Sports are planning to create a new game without rosters that include the names, likeness, and images of collegiate football players -as current NCAA rules forbid college athletes from selling their NIL (Names, Images, and Likeness) rights. The gaming company would be partnering with the Collegiate Licensing Company (CLC) once again to ensure the game includes all Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) schools, uniforms, traditions, and even the playbooks of these colleges are expected to be included in the game, with 100 colleges in total expected to feature.
However, the lack of active college rosters might not be for long as some state governments in the United States have created laws to ensure these athletes at least earn money from their Names. Images and Likeness, and the Federal government along with the NCAA are expected to follow suit soon following recent criticism from ex-collegiate athletes and current professionals
It’s unclear what will happen to the game should the changes to the NIL rules be implemented by all regulatory bodies, but potential lawsuits like we saw in 2009 will definitely be avoided.
All in all, the incubus period for collegiate football fans appears to be coming to an end, as the development of next-gen consoles would only make a potential game not look better but feel and play better.
Future of EA & football
EA has recently come into a lot of criticism from fans of the National Football Association (NFL) for their lack of development and innovation in the Madden franchise. Stating the inaccuracy with player ratings and lack of intuitive storylines delivered in other sports games but a well-developed college football game could go a long way to easing such negativity around the company and win them back a huge share of the market.
Meanwhile, EA Sports are yet to announce if they will be revamping the NCAA Basketball game, whose last title was previously released back in 2009. The American gaming industry giant has struggled to make a proper basketball/NBA game in a long while with NBA LIVE failing to live up to the standards and innovations of rival NBA 2K. The last NBA LIVE (NBA Live 19) title was released back in August 2018 and scored low ratings amongst fans and critics together causing EA to cancel the proposed NBA Live 20 which was scheduled for August 2019. The entire NBA Live franchise has been put on hold and EA Sports are yet to announce if the arrival of next-gen consoles would see the return of their NCAA Basketball game and NBA Live.
Source: David Todva, Twitter
