The NCAA will not renew its contract with EA, the NCAA announced. The current agreement between EA and NCAA expires in June 2014, but NCAA Football 14 "will be the last to include the NCAA's name and logo."

The news comes one year after EA filed a $27 million settlement in a class action lawsuit dating back to 2008, which also stipulated that EA could not renew its current exclusive license with NCAA, but could enter a new, non-exclusive agreement for its college football series. The payout for that lawsuit reportedly stalled in Appeals court this month.

"But given the current business climate and costs of litigation, we determined participating in this game is not in the best interests of the NCAA," the NCAA added. "The NCAA has never licensed the use of current student-athlete names, images or likenesses to EA." EA faced another lawsuit dating back to 2009 in which former Nebraska quarterback Samuel Keller alleged that EA adopted the likeness of student athletes for its college football games. A California court denied EA's motion for dismissal of the class-action suit in February 2010, and later in May 2012.

The suit was combined with a lawsuit from former UCLA basketball player Ed O'Bannon against the NCAA, who claimed that the NCAA blocked "him and other former college athletes from getting paid for their likenesses in [EA Sports] videogames after they left college," according to Bloomberg.

Posted: Jul 18, 2013 5:38 am
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Source: http://www.joystiq.com/2013/07/17/ea-wont-renew-ncaa-license/