20,000 Athletes to Receive Settlement from EA/NCAA Lawsuit [UPDATED]

[cdj]

The lengthy lawsuit versus Electronic Arts and the NCAA may finally be drawing towards a close as the July 2 deadline for student-athletes to file a claim has now passed. 16,200 of the potential 93,000 claimants actually did so.

Student-athletes who filed claims could earn anywhere from $74-$6,700. 'Participation awards' will see named plaintiffs (including O'Bannon, Keller, Hart) receiving a combined total of $200,000. Lawyers will be taking in no more than 33% of the total $60 million EA/NCAA settlement, which equates to approximately $19.8M.

The next hearing for this case is on July 16 and that is where Judge Wilken may grant approval of the settlement. She must also rule on fees and expenses being sought by the plaintiffs' lawyers, proposed additional payments to the named plaintiffs, and objections that have been raised by three potential claimants.

Still on the horizon is the Kessler vs. NCAA lawsuit and also worth watching is how the NCAA and/or conferences/schools establish policy on allowing player likeness to be utilized and compensated in the future. These are the remaining key items to seeing a possible return of the NCAA Football franchise.

UPDATE - On Thursday, U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken orally approved a combined $60 million settlement that ended claims against video game manufacturer Electronic Arts, Collegiate Licensing Company and the NCAA. More than 20,000 claims have been made and the deadline for players to seek money has been extended to July 31, according to Berman.

It's possible the dollar amount for players will increase. Carey said it's “very possible” that Wilken will reduce attorneys' fees from 33 percent of the settlement to 30 percent. If that happens, the pool of money would increase for athletes who make claims. Courtesy: CBS Sports

[jaymo76]

Take pride in your $74 dollar cheque. You only cost me my favourite video game series of all time... If I were in an NCAA video football game I would be estatic. How many people can say that they were in a video game?

[souljahbill]

It hurts. NCAA was my only yearly release title in any genre.

[Jayrah]

Still upset about the way that this ended and the fact that I can't play any college game right now. Sometimes I really hate the way people take advantage of the legal system. It took way too long to resolve. Hopefully it's taken care of before Madden drops and they can get to making a title for 2017.

[jaymo76]

Still upset about the way that this ended and the fact that I can't play any college game right now. Sometimes I really hate the way people take advantage of the legal system. It took way too long to resolve. Hopefully it's taken care of before Madden drops and they can get to making a title for 2017.

Very optimistic my friend. I want to share your optimism but I have come to the conclusion that college sports titles are dead. Even if it does come back will it be the same? Rumour of no editing, only power conferences, some teams/school opting out, etc. That's not my college football. Heck I still have not got over the lack of Div II teams.

[Jayrah]

Very optimistic my friend. I want to share your optimism but I have come to the conclusion that college sports titles are dead. Even if it does come back will it be the same? Rumour of no editing, only power conferences, some teams/school opting out, etc. That's not my college football. Heck I still have not got over the lack of Div II teams.

You may well be right. However I'm hoping they can either include some kind or waiver to student-athletes for the rights to their likenesses or just go completely generic and go from there. As kids I don't think very many, if any, would say "no" to being in the game. It's only after the fact when they're broke as a joke because they're bums who flamed out that they go back and apparently find themselves as being taken advantage of. I'd even be willing to pay $10 extra dollars if there needed to be some kind of additional stipend to the student-athletes to make this happen. I think there are plenty of consumers that would gladly pay that amount to help the game out, assuming it comes back strong and well-made.

If there's no editing potential it's probably over b/c there'd have to almost be unlimited editing potential to make a great game if schools opt-out, etc. But my blind faith tells me something can be done eventually to please the masses in the real world enough to make this game a reality again. Maybe 2018 is a more realistic date.

[JeffHCross]

Y'know, I'm not even sure if I blame the players at this point. I don't know if it's the "man, I'm broke, maybe I could sue!" mentality. I'd be very curious to know how many of the main plaintiffs approached the lawyers, or was it the other way around?

I just see so many late night lawyer ads on TV, advertising lawsuits for just about everything, that I wonder sometimes.

[steelerfan]

Y'know, I'm not even sure if I blame the players at this point. I don't know if it's the "man, I'm broke, maybe I could sue!" mentality. I'd be very curious to know how many of the main plaintiffs approached the lawyers, or was it the other way around?

I just see so many late night lawyer ads on TV, advertising lawsuits for just about everything, that I wonder sometimes.

[AustinWolv]

It hurts. NCAA was my only yearly release title in any genre.

+1

Since it happens to an extent and now players are approved to get stipends, can the BS end and the game start back up?

[steelerfan]

NCAA: Federal judge approves $60M settlement for athletes in class-action lawsuit against NCAA and video game maker EA.

[cdj]

NCAA: Federal judge approves $60M settlement for athletes in class-action lawsuit against NCAA and video game maker EA.

And to add to that:

More than 20,000 claims have been made and the deadline for players to seek money has been extended to July 31, according to Berman.

It's possible the dollar amount for players will increase. Carey said it's “very possible” that Wilken will reduce attorneys' fees from 33 percent of the settlement to 30 percent. If that happens, the pool of money would increase for athletes who make claims.

Courtesy: CBS Sports

It sounds like the end to this lawsuit is in sight (thank goodness).

[jaymo76]

OS is reporting that last night the NCAA filed a stay of proceedings and want to take it to the highest court in the land. I suspect that will kill the series for a couple more years at least if not forever...

[BookieMan]

EA could have been pro-active 10 years ago and tried to set up a trust fund for players after graduation. It would have saved them a whole lot of money. Instead of being greedy. They new that the players were getting taken advantage of. EA deserves all this bullshit.

[BookieMan]

NCAA probably would have agreed to something like that.

[cdj]

EA could have been pro-active 10 years ago and tried to set up a trust fund for players after graduation. It would have saved them a whole lot of money. Instead of being greedy. They new that the players were getting taken advantage of. EA deserves all this bullshit.

NCAA probably would have agreed to something like that.

First off, welcome to the site!


I'd have go back to some old articles, but I'm pretty sure EA actually floated that idea to the NCAA but they balked at it.

[souljahbill]

Should've just gone super generic from jump.

[JeffHCross]

And now EA's Terms of Service includes a Class Action waiver (I don't know if that was added yesterday, but the Terms of Service were updated yesterday).

Though it does specifically say that it does not apply to intellectual property disputes.

[steelerfan]

NCAA: Plan to compensate athletes for use of images and likenesses on hold after NCAA granted a stay by court of appeals*-via ESPN http://espn.go.com/college-sports/st...n-payment-case

[gschwendt]

Here's ESPN's What to know: Student-athlete compensation
http://espn.go.com/college-sports/st...e-compensation

Q: All I care about is that I get my college video games back. Does all of this get me any closer?
A: No. Video games are a separate case and both the NCAA and EA Sports have agreed to settle the case with former players, though that has no bearing on how the video-game companies will proceed in the future. Sources tell ESPN's Darren Rovell that Take Two Interactive has secured at least 10 licenses to put college basketball teams in its 2K games, though it's not clear how they would do it. Electronic Arts also has contacted schools to put out feelers on whether or not they can pull off a football game in the future. It is believed that until a system of further compensation is set up, licenses will include logos, mascots, arenas and stadiums, but not anything close to resembling actual players.

[souljahbill]

^
Couldn't have written it any better myself.