EA to Give Up NCAA Football Exclusive for At Least Five Years, Starting in 2014

Category: Gaming
Posted: July 24, 2012 12:59AM
Author: bp9801

EA has held the rights to both NFL and NCAA football games for nearly a decade, but soon it looks like the NCAA exclusivity will end. In a proposed settlement to a class-action antitrust lawsuit, EA has said it would go at least five years without NCAA football exclusivity, beginning in 2014. The studio would also not pursue an Arena Football League exclusivity deal for five years. EA proposed paying out $27 million to wronged customers as well, which would net PS2, GameCube, and Xbox purchasers $6.79 per game, and current generation purchasers $1.95 a game. The settlement was filed in court last week and needs to be approved before anything definitive can come of it.

The class-action lawsuit was originally filed back in 2008 concerning EA's exclusive deals with the NFL, NCAA, and AFL. The NFL exclusive deal will remain, but the lawyers seem satisifed to have EA give up the NCAA and AFL licenses. It is possible 2K will revive its NCAA series in the next few years, however I doubt many companies will be chomping at the bit to make an AFL game.

• Email Link
• Print News

This news has comment postings disabled because it is now archived.