• No College Football Game From EA SPORTS in 2014, Future to be Assessed

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    JBHuskers
    Published on 09-26-2013 03:16 PM
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    This afternoon, Cam Weber (GM of American Football at EA SPORTS) announced that the company will not publish a college football title in 2014 and that the future of the franchise is in doubt. Weber stated that the company being caught in the dispute between the NCAA and student-athletes along with the NCAA & several conferences withdrawing support led to the decision. He also added that EA SPORTS is working to settle lawsuits with the student-athletes.

    Later in the day it was announced that EA SPORTS had settled a series of class-action lawsuits. It is believed that the settlement will affect between 200,000 and 300,000 current and former college players. Terms of the settlement are confidential pending a court filing. From CBS Sports: The settlement affects lawsuits brought by former Rutgers quarterback Ryan Hart, former Nebraska and Arizona State quarterback Sam Keller and former UCLA basketball star O'Bannon. The settlement does not include the NCAA's ongoing battle with O'Bannon and other plaintiffs in the fight over the rights to player likenesses.

    Continue on to read the full press release from Weber & EA SPORTS.

    Today I am sad to announce that we will not be publishing a new college football game next year, and we are evaluating our plan for the future of the franchise. This is as profoundly disappointing to the people who make this game as I expect it will be for the millions who enjoy playing it each year. I’d like to explain a couple of the factors that brought us to this decision.

    We have been stuck in the middle of a dispute between the NCAA and student-athletes who seek compensation for playing college football. Just like companies that broadcast college games and those that provide equipment and apparel, we follow rules that are set by the NCAA – but those rules are being challenged by some student-athletes. For our part, we are working to settle the lawsuits with the student-athletes. Meanwhile, the NCAA and a number of conferences have withdrawn their support of our game. The ongoing legal issues combined with increased questions surrounding schools and conferences have left us in a difficult position – one that challenges our ability to deliver an authentic sports experience, which is the very foundation of EA SPORTS games.

    At EA SPORTS, college football has always been a labor of love, and it is unfortunate that these business and legal issues have impacted our ability to make next year’s game. This franchise has been developed by a team that is deeply committed to the tradition and culture of this sport – that’s why fans have always loved it. We are working to retain the talented people who are part of the team by placing them elsewhere within the EA SPORTS organization.

    In the meantime, we will continue to be connected and engaged with our fans who are playing EA SPORTS NCAA Football. Our decision does not affect our commitment to NCAA Football 14 and the consumers who love playing the game.
    1. Categories:
    2. EA SPORTS,
    3. NCAA Football 14
    Tags: ea sports
    Comments 223 Comments
    1. CLW's Avatar
      CLW - 09-26-2013, 05:10 PM
      Interesting thought - some are posting that terms of settlement required this and EA might have gotten out "CHEAP". Players really just want to be paid so their target is to crush the NCAA into bankruptcy.

      Might be interesting to see how this develops if the settlement is in fact true. All class action settlements have to be approved by the Court and the class members have an opportunity to object after getting notice of their settlement.
    1. CLW's Avatar
      CLW - 09-26-2013, 05:16 PM
      Yep. Class counsel says:

      I'm disappointed in that because there should be a game, All that has to happen is the NCAA allow players to be paid and there would be a game. This is Step 1 to players being paid that should. There will be players who play Saturday who should be paid [for their services] as they should be.
      http://www.cbssports.com/collegefoot...ible-for-money

      That seems to indicate the Players want a game but they wanna be paid every year for it. Their target is to crush the NCAA into submission and/or bankruptcy.

      Article estimates the class at 125,000 players. Seems a little low to me but maybe it wasn't the entire 21 years of the series.
    1. SmoothPancakes's Avatar
      SmoothPancakes - 09-26-2013, 05:21 PM
      So the series isn't necessarily dead, it just hinges on the fucktards at the NCAA doing something they refuse to do.

      I'm on the same side, the fuckers don't deserve any money, they already get paid in full tuition and room and board, plus meal stipends and whatnot while on the road. But I'll digress if it keep the NCAA series alive. With the CLC settling, that just leaves the NCAA itself as an issue. Hell, if EA, the CLC and the independent teams can work something out, they can still go the non-NCAA named route, just have to have it cleared to be alright to pay the players.

      The one good thing that could come from all of this, if the series were to somehow survive, would be no more QB #2 and crap. We could actually have named players with proper details and stats in the launch day rosters.
    1. cdj's Avatar
      cdj - 09-26-2013, 05:23 PM
      Quote Originally Posted by CLW View Post
      Article estimates the class at 125,000 players. Seems a little low to me but maybe it wasn't the entire 21 years of the series.
    1. CLW's Avatar
      CLW - 09-26-2013, 05:26 PM
      Quote Originally Posted by SmoothPancakes View Post
      So the series isn't necessarily dead, it just hinges on the fucktards at the NCAA doing something they refuse to do.

      I'm on the same side, the fuckers don't deserve any money, they already get paid in full tuition and room and board, plus meal stipends and whatnot while on the road. But I'll digress if it keep the NCAA series alive. With the CLC settling, that just leaves the NCAA itself as an issue. Hell, if EA, the CLC and the independent teams can work something out, they can still go the non-NCAA named route, just have to have it cleared to be alright to pay the players.

      The one good thing that could come from all of this, if the series were to somehow survive, would be no more QB #2 and crap. We could actually have named players with proper details and stats in the launch day rosters.
      Yes and no. They could NOT do a game w/o the NCAA's permission currently b/c paying the players would be an NCAA violation thus no player could be paid for use of his likeness in a video game. They would all lose their eligibility to play the game.

      2 scenarios could save the series:

      #1 NCAA "caves" and permits athletes to be paid for their "likeness" use in video games - this would allow real rosters with the names in lieu of numbers and potentially dynamic updates etc... (think Madden)

      #2 NCAA is destroyed by lawsuit (literally) and/or the "big boy" schools leave the NCAA form their own group and EA pays the players for their likeness in that new entity/series "Big Boy Football 15"
    1. CLW's Avatar
      CLW - 09-26-2013, 05:27 PM
      Quote Originally Posted by cdj View Post
      That # is in line with my estimate and Class Counsel certainly should know the EXACT # of his "clients". Technically they aren't his clients (b/c they didn't sign an agreement with him) but he is supposed to be representing them all as Court appointed class counsel (if/when the class is officially certified)
    1. SmoothPancakes's Avatar
      SmoothPancakes - 09-26-2013, 05:31 PM
      Quote Originally Posted by CLW View Post
      Yes and no. They could NOT do a game w/o the NCAA's permission currently b/c paying the players would be an NCAA violation thus no player could be paid for use of his likeness in a video game. They would all lose their eligibility to play the game.

      2 scenarios could save the series:

      #1 NCAA "caves" and permits athletes to be paid for their "likeness" use in video games - this would allow real rosters with the names in lieu of numbers and potentially dynamic updates etc... (think Madden)

      #2 NCAA is destroyed by lawsuit (literally) and/or the "big boy" schools leave the NCAA form their own group and EA pays the players for their likeness in that new entity/series "Big Boy Football 15"
      I probably didn't explain it well, but that's what I was trying to get at. With EA and CLC looking to settle, it would just leave the NCAA as the major issue in the future of the series. If the dumbasses at the NCAA relent and start allowing athletes to be paid, the series could be saved since it appears the players still want the series around (they just want to be paid for it), and the CLC would no longer have the lawsuit issue driving them (or independent teams) away. From my layman's perspective of all this, with EA and CLC looking settle, the future between no video game at all or a resumption of a yearly released video game, with probably fully named rosters, comes down to solely the NCAA and their refusal to budge on allowing athletes to be payed.
    1. CLW's Avatar
      CLW - 09-26-2013, 05:36 PM
      Quote Originally Posted by SmoothPancakes View Post
      I probably didn't explain it well, but that's what I was trying to get at. With EA and CLC looking to settle, it would just leave the NCAA as the major issue in the future of the series. If the dumbasses at the NCAA relent and start allowing athletes to be paid, the series could be saved since it appears the players still want the series around (they just want to be paid for it), and the CLC would no longer have the lawsuit issue driving them (or independent teams) away. From my layman's perspective of all this, with EA and CLC looking settle, the future between no video game at all or a resumption of a yearly released video game, with probably fully named rosters, comes down to solely the NCAA and their refusal to budge on allowing athletes to be payed.
      Yes again with the caveat that presumably member institutions could leave the NCAA and form a new league (and thus a new EA series built around this new league which permits its students to be paid).

      I am not privy to any agreements conferences/schools have with the NCAA but I know there has been quite a bit of chatter about 4 "super conferences" leaving the NCAA and forming their own league which would permit a "Final 4" like tournament to crown a "national champion".
    1. SmoothPancakes's Avatar
      SmoothPancakes - 09-26-2013, 05:43 PM
      One thing, thinking ahead to the now lost game of NCAACollege Football 15. Boo. No Appalachian State or Charlotte next year anymore. Figures the series would end up, for the time being, shelved the year before the final two teams jumping the FBS were set to be introduced to the game.
    1. CLW's Avatar
      CLW - 09-26-2013, 05:44 PM
      Quote Originally Posted by SmoothPancakes View Post
      One thing, thinking ahead to the now lost game of NCAACollege Football 15. Boo. No Appalachian State or Charlotte next year anymore. Figures the series would end up, for the time being, shelved the year before the final two teams jumping the FBS were set to be introduced to the game.
      Yep also no Final 4 (or whatever they were calling it) which was also supposed to come to the series I believe next year.
    1. SmoothPancakes's Avatar
      SmoothPancakes - 09-26-2013, 06:01 PM
      Quote Originally Posted by CLW View Post
      Yep also no Final 4 (or whatever they were calling it) which was also supposed to come to the series I believe next year.
      Damn, I completely forgot about that. That's right. We're stuck with nothing but bowl games and the BCS for now.

      And even that, there are a couple bowls still not in the game. Or at least there weren't last year. In NCAA '13, the Russell Athletic Bowl (still the Champ Sports Bowl in the game), the New Era Pinstripe Bowl (completely absent, probably due to Yankee Stadium rights), Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl (still the Insight Bowl in the game), Heart of Dallas Bowl (still the TicketCity Bowl in the game).

      Now, I'm only just currently in the middle of game 6 of my first season on 2014, so some of those bowls (Buffalo Wild Wings, Heart of Dallas, Russell Athletic) might be updated in NCAA '14, I don't know firsthand. But I sure wouldn't be surprised that the Pinstripe Bowl is still absent, leaving only 34 bowls and only 68 bowl teams each season, instead of the actual 35 bowls/70 teams.

      And unfortunately, whatever of those bowls hasn't been fixed in '14, either won't be fixed until, at minimum, 2015, or ever.
    1. morsdraconis's Avatar
      morsdraconis - 09-26-2013, 06:23 PM
      It was only a matter of time. Couldn't happen to a shittier franchise. This thing has been a dead man walking series ever since this current gen started. If it wasn't for it getting the Madden scraps every year, it would have been dead a LONG time ago.
    1. NatureBoy's Avatar
      NatureBoy - 09-26-2013, 06:40 PM
      While current NCAA players fight for their right to make money, a large group of former college football players scored a major victory Thursday.

      Shortly after Electronic Arts announced it would stop producing a college football game beginning next year, the video game company -- together with Collegiate Licensing Company, which holds the licensing rights to the trademarks to the majority of the colleges and universities -- filed papers to the U.S. District Court in California that it had settled its case brought by former players.

      Although the video games did not use their names, the former college athletes alleged EA Sports used the same jersey numbers, heights, weights, skin tones, hair colors and home states listed in their in-game bios, not only without their permission, but without compensation.

      Steve Berman, managing partner of the law firm Hagens Berman, who served as co-lead counsel in the class-action lawsuit brought by the players, acknowledged to ESPN.com that a settlement had been reached, though the specific terms will remain confidential. Berman said negotiations started in earnest the last few weeks on the heels of an appellate court affirming in July a U.S. District Court decision that ruled that EA could not use a First Amendment defense of free speech.

      After the sides had met with a mediator, they put the finishing touches on a settlement, which Berman says will include between 200,000 and 300,000 former college football players whose likenesses were used in the game.

      Berman would only say that the settlement would provide the ex-players with "something substantive." He said that a list of players with their current addresses will be compiled and, once the court approves the settlement and the money is paid out, he hopes the players can get checks sent to their current residences instead of having to claim it.

      For its part, EA Sports -- which will not admit any wrongdoing as part of the settlement agreement -- said in a statement Thursday that "we follow rules that are set by the NCAA -- but those rules are being challenged by some student-athletes."

      EA Sports said the decision will not affect its support for "NCAA Football 14," which was released in July. The Redwood City, Calif., company also said that it is working to reassign staffers who worked on the game.

      The NCAA said earlier this year that it would take its name off the game, but that does not absolve the governing body of previous legal exposure. With EA Sports and CLC dropped as defendants, the NCAA now will be litigated against alone in the class-action lawsuits spearheaded by former college quarterback Sam Keller and former UCLA basketball player Ed O'Bannon.

      The NCAA's chief legal officer, Donald Remy, told USA Today that the NCAA was "not prepared to compromise on this case."

      The settlement comes just five days after the most visible protest by college football players, who are seeking to improve their rights. Georgia Tech quarterback Vad Lee, Northwestern quarterback Kain Colter, and several others wrote "APU" -- All Players United -- on their gameday gear last Saturday. It was done to protest the NCAA's treatment of athletes on issues ranging from concussions to compensation.

      One lawyer involved in the case suggested Thursday's settlement means current players now will be entitled to get compensation, too.

      "Today's settlement is a game-changer because, for the first time, student-athletes suiting up to play this weekend are going to be paid for the use of their likenesses," said Eugene Egdorf, a Houston-based lawyer who litigated on behalf of the former college players. "We view this as the first step towards our ultimate goal of making sure all student-athletes can claim their fair share of the billions of dollars generated each year by college sports."

      EA Sports provided athletic departments with more licensing royalties than any other non-apparel licensee, according to data released by CLC.

      http://espn.go.com/college-football/...-football-game
    1. I OU a Beatn's Avatar
      I OU a Beatn - 09-26-2013, 06:52 PM
      Quote Originally Posted by morsdraconis View Post
      Couldn't happen to a shittier franchise.
      I know you like being a little dramatic sometimes, but come on. There's franchises out there that make NCAA look like the best series ever.
    1. bdoughty's Avatar
      bdoughty - 09-26-2013, 06:55 PM
      Mutant League College Football 2014

      Zombies can't sue.
    1. gigemaggs99's Avatar
      gigemaggs99 - 09-26-2013, 07:06 PM
      Have they (EA) made it clear how long they will keep the server open for NCAA 14? I think it sucks they aren't going to be coming out with a newer version but I'll keep playing this game....just hope the online server for NCAA 14 lasts a while.
    1. CLW's Avatar
      CLW - 09-26-2013, 07:09 PM
      Quote Originally Posted by bdoughty View Post
      Mutant League College Football 2014

      Zombies can't sue.
      Wrong.

      http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2013/ma...ombie-lawsuit/




      Quote Originally Posted by gigemaggs99 View Post
      Have they (EA) made it clear how long they will keep the server open for NCAA 14? I think it sucks they aren't going to be coming out with a newer version but I'll keep playing this game....just hope the online server for NCAA 14 lasts a while.
      Nope my guess (pure speculation) is not long I suspect next summer it's gone and I suspect it is also terms of the settlement agreement.
    1. SmoothPancakes's Avatar
      SmoothPancakes - 09-26-2013, 07:37 PM
      Another thought on things, what does this mean for Uniform Store? They already don't give us actual uniforms, just helmets and gloves. Will the packs be slowed down or shut down, or will they keep supporting that the rest of the season?
    1. oweb26's Avatar
      oweb26 - 09-26-2013, 07:47 PM
      Quick Question what happens to this site? I know it wont shut down because of this (hopefully anyway) but does the focus shift to something else..general video game site I guess??
    1. dhook27's Avatar
      dhook27 - 09-26-2013, 07:47 PM
      Quote Originally Posted by SmoothPancakes View Post
      Another thought on things, what does this mean for Uniform Store? They already don't give us actual uniforms, just helmets and gloves. Will the packs be slowed down or shut down, or will they keep supporting that the rest of the season?
      The reason I think they dont give us full uniforms is because you have to get permission from the school and sometimes schools dont care about a video game.
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