The NCAA and the plaintiffs in the Keller v. NCAA, et al. litigation have reached a settlement on claims made against the Association over college-themed basketball and football video games produced by Electronic Arts (EA).
The settlement will award $20 million to certain Division I men’s basketball and Division I Bowl Subdivision football student-athletes who attended certain institutions during the years the games were sold.
The plaintiffs had previously reached a $40 million settlement with EA.
“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,” said NCAA Chief Legal Officer Donald Remy.
Steve Berman, managing partner of Hagens Berman and lead attorney for the plaintiffs, said the settlement is significant not only for its contribution to the student-athlete settlement fund, but for the precedent it sets.
“This is the first time in the history of the NCAA that the organization is paying student-athletes for rights related to their play on the field, compensating them for their contribution to the profit-making nature of college sports,” Berman said. “We’ve long held through our various cases against the NCAA that the student-athlete is treated poorly in everything from scholarships to safety. This settlement is a step toward equity and fairness for them.”
Berman added that the combined settlements mean that “each student-athlete class member could now receive more than $1,000 for each year they appeared in the EA video games, even more depending on the response and claim rates for the class.”
“We began this case five years ago with the knowledge that the NCAA and member schools were resolute in keeping as much control over student-athletes as possible,” Berman added. “But we were equally resolute that anyone — even a student-athlete playing under scholarship — should not be exploited for profit, especially by the organization that vowed to prevent the athlete from exploitation.”
Current Athletes to Retain Eligibility
Remy noted that “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. In no event do we consider this settlement pay for athletics performance.”
Remy added that this unique video game settlement does not impact the NCAA’s strong belief that its collegiate model of sports operates lawfully.
