EA cancels 2014 college football game following NCAA dispute

Shawn Knight

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cancels college football game gaming ea college football

Electronic Arts recently announced they will not publish a college football game next year. EA’s GM of American Football Cam Weber revealed the news in a blog post on the subject, saying the company was evaluating their plan for the future of the franchise.

The news comes just a few months after the NCAA decided not to renew a licensing partnership with EA Sports. The company would still be able to produce a college football game for the next three years thanks to an agreement with the Collegiate Licensing Company (CLC) but they wouldn’t be able to use the NCAA name and its accompanying trademarks.

EA has put out a college football game every year since 1993 but in recent years, student-athletes have been seeking compensation for playing college football. Athletes (for the sake of argument, college football players) claim the NCAA is making millions of dollars using their names and likeness to sell apparel, video games, etc. It’s a dispute that continues to gain traction and could ultimately lead to major changes for college sports in general.

As a result of a recent settlement and other court rulings, EA Sports has agreed to change the way it develops future games featuring NCAA athletes in order to protect the rights to their likenesses.

If EA does ultimately decide to release another college football game, doing so without the NCAA and its branding would likely be a disaster as people pay to play as their favorite teams and players. A game with generic players certainly wouldn’t fly off store shelves the way past titles have, that’s for sure.

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And who can blame these student-athletes and why should EA get richer at their expense?
Unless you make money off the way you look like actors or models I don't think it should matter. There's always someone out there who looks close to you so could they both claim for it to be them. EA put the millions of dollars into the game. I bought I think it was the 2009 version on ps3 and the players were not similar hardly at all except for race.
 
Man I hope they don't start paying college athletes... One of the best things about college ball is that it is purely competitive, without being corrupted by the allure of fame and money. Once upon a time, the NFL used to be about the love of the game too.
 
Man I hope they don't start paying college athletes... One of the best things about college ball is that it is purely competitive, without being corrupted by the allure of fame and money. Once upon a time, the NFL used to be about the love of the game too.
Honestly, I don't think they should get paid, but if other people are making millions off of them, maybe they should get scholarship money. Or maybe they should let people into college games for free (can you imagine?)
 
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