Images like this from EA Sports' NCAA '12 are at the heart of a suit regarding the names and likenesses of college athletes.
More than 150 colleges, conferences and bowl games have approved a three-year contract extension with EA Sports that will continue production of the company's college football video game despite the ongoing legal controversy surrounding it.
The move was confirmed Friday, two days after the NCAA announced it would not renew its contract with EA Sports after next year, citing business reasons and litigation costs amid a raft of lawsuits involving the game. The NCAA's decision means the popular video game no longer will be called "NCAA Football" but rather "College Football," with each school or league continuing to decide whether to opt in or out through Collegiate Licensing Company (CLC), their licensing agent.
Some schools did opt out for different reasons, though it's not clear how many. CLC represents nearly 200 colleges, conferences and bowl games.
"More than 150 colleges, conferences and Bowl Games have approved the extension thus far," CLC spokesman Andrew Giangola told USA TODAY Sports. "For various reasons, schools and conferences typically come and go across the life span of any licensed product, as is the case with this game."
After the NCAA opted out, questions were raised about the game's future: If the NCAA deemed it to be too big of a legal problem, would schools feel the same way?
The contract renewal answers that question about the football game, although the renewal was in the works well before the NCAA announcement.
In 2010, EA Sports canceled its NCAA Basketball video game, citing a shrinking market for the series. The basketball game and football game also faced an increasing risk of liability after the NCAA, EA Sports and CLC were sued by former college players who argued their likenesses were used in those games without being compensated for it. The suits, filed in 2009, soon could become class actions and threaten to change the way athletes are compensated in NCAA sports, with billions of dollars potentially at stake for the defendants.
The basketball video game was arguably a bigger liability risk than the football game because player avatars bore a stronger resemblance to actual players. In the football game, the avatars are more anonymous with players wearing helmets, though the jersey numbers are often the same as real players.
Each schools weighs the risk and rewards of renewing with EA Sports. The rewards include royalties and publicity from the game. The risk could include the ongoing legal liability, with possibly bigger questions looming over the next contract extension in 2017.
For example, Stanford University deputy athletic director Patrick Dunkley told USA TODAY Sports he would like to talk to the NCAA about the reasons for its non-renewal decision.
"I want to get the best understanding I can about what they see as the legal risks so we can analyze those risks and any other risks that we think may exist," said Dunkley, an attorney. "To the extent those risks exist, we want to determine if there's a way to mitigate them through the agreements. If so, maybe we proceed. If not, maybe we don't."
It's up to each school.
"Schools make their own decisions on any licensed program, and each school is unique," Giangola said. "They may change direction in their business objectives, decide for a number of different reasons to focus on other licensed products, or focus on new relationships with licensees in their region or associated with their school."
The contract renewal gives EA Sports the rights to use schools' logos, trademarks, stadiums, mascots, and other school-specific indicia in a college football video game that EA produces and sells, Giangola said.
The football game sells about two million units per year, stock analyst Michael Pachter said. The FIFA soccer video game and Madden NFL game sell 12 million and 5.5 million units, respectively, he said.
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