College Football Stars Suing Electronic Arts

Electronic Arts, through its EA Sports division, could be on the receiving end of quite a few law suits. And the main reason is, ironically, the very popularity that series like NCAA Football and Madden NFL, which arrive each year complete with likenesses of players, team T-shirts and stadiums modeled after the real world ones.

Rumors have been swirling around for some time that retired NFL players are set to suit Electronic Arts for the unlawful incorporation of their images in Madden NFL, but it’s a former college footballer that has taken the first step.

Samuel Keller, who has played for Arizona State and Nebraska, is the main plaintiff in a class action suit. The motivation for the legal action "arises out of the blatant and unlawful use of student likenesses in videogames produced by... to increase sales and profits."

Apparently, the NCAA is an accomplice, as it "intentionally circumvents the prohibitions on utilizing student athletes' names in commercial ventures by allowing gamers to upload entire rosters, which include players' names and other information, directly into the game in a matter of seconds."

The student athletes are the ones basically powering the videogame, yet they are the ones who receive nothing even if titles like NCAA Football are very successful. The suit has just been filed, so it's not clear what the outcome will be or how the existence of Madden NFL and other football titles could be affected in the long run.

EA Sports is really hyping up its football games this year. They might not be coming to the PC any longer but their popularity, especially in the United States, guarantees a big constant revenue stream. This year, the big challenge is to make sure that the Madden NFL version for the Nintendo Wii, which sports a new stylized look, is as successful as that coming to the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3.