OAKLAND, Calif. -- As the Ed O'Bannon trial started Monday, the NCAA announced it reached a settlement with plaintiffs over football and basketball video games produced by Electronic Arts.
The NCAA said the settlement will award $20 million to various Division I football and men's basketball players who attended certain universities during the years the games were sold. The settlement, pending approval from a judge, would end the litigation brought by former Arizona State and Nebraska quarterback Sam Keller over the use of college athletes' names, images and likenesses in video games. The case had been scheduled for trial in March 2015.
The NCAA's settlement means some current college athletes will likely receive money from the fund. And it brings the total sum in video-game settlement money to $60 million. The settlement doesn't impact the O'Bannon antitrust case, which attempted to end the NCAA's rules prohibiting college athletes from being paid off their names, images and likenesses.
'Consistent with the terms of a court-approved settlement, the NCAA will allow a blanket eligibility waiver for any currently enrolled student-athletes who receive funds connected with the settlement,' NCAA chief legal officer Donald Remy said in a statement. 'In no event do we consider this settlement pay for athletics performance.'
Previously, EA and Collegiate Licensing Company settled their claims with video-game plaintiffs for $40 million. That settlement is pending court approval.
'With the games no longer in production and the plaintiffs settling their claims with EA and the Collegiate Licensing Company, the NCAA viewed a settlement now as an appropriate opportunity to provide complete closure to the video game plaintiffs,' Remy said.
An NCAA statement said the 'complete details of the settlement remain to be finalized.' An NCAA attorney also told U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken that the NCAA has reached preliminary agreements with EA and CLC over the NCAA's lawsuit in Georgia state court. The NCAA had accused the companies of not protecting the association in their settlement with video-game plaintiffs.
Remy said in a statement that the 'unique' video game settlement doesn't impact the NCAA's belief that it operates its collegiate model lawfully.
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