The Back Alley Archives

In 2008, as big money poured into the coffers of college athletics, the N.C.A.A. faced a growing chorus of criticism that student-athletes were being exploited.

But N.C.A.A. executives, in private communications, opposed any notion that college football and basketball players should get a cut of the profits.

“With regard to the student-athlete, I think the focus on exploitation may be misplaced, and maybe it is not our duty to protect the student-athlete,” David Berst, a senior N.C.A.A. executive, wrote in an August 2008 e-mail to the head of the organization.

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A review of numerous e-mails sent by N.C.A.A. officials and video game executives suggests that the N.C.A.A. has long had a goal of ensuring it makes as much money as possible while doing everything it can to keep students from being paid.

In its initial public statement about the litigation, the N.C.A.A. noted that its agreement with E.A. Sports, an Electronic Arts brand, prohibited the names and pictures of current student-athletes, adding that “we are confident no such use has occurred.”

But behind the scenes, the college athletics world realized what was at stake.

“This whole area of name and likeness and the N.C.A.A. is a disaster leading to a catastrophe as far as I can tell,” the Nebraska chancellor Harvey Perlman, who served on the N.C.A.A.’s board of directors, wrote soon after the O’Bannon lawsuit was filed. “I’m still trying to figure out by what authority the N.C.A.A. licenses these rights to the game makers and others.”

Dan Beebe, then the commissioner of the Big 12 Conference, wrote back that, to his knowledge, the N.C.A.A. never granted permission to game makers to use such likenesses. Beebe then had an exchange of e-mails with Christine Plonsky from Texas, who had been part of the presidential task force on commercialism.

“Has our N.C.A.A. board decided not to defend the notion that playing N.C.A.A. sports is not forced?” Plonsky wrote. “It is a voluntary sign-up. We’re like a version of the Army.”

Referring to student-athletes, she added: “We have things we have to do a certain way to raise funds and pay for the scholarships and other things that s-a’s and their parents expect. I view these cases as being the result of the entitlement attitude we’ve created in our revenue sports.”

Plonsky went on to say that if E.A. Sports “loses a case based on depiction of a nameless, faceless player in a school uniform, then our TV rights fees are destined to be in court next.”

In its initial public statement about the litigation, the N.C.A.A. noted that its agreement with E.A. Sports, an Electronic Arts brand, prohibited the names and pictures of current student-athletes, adding that “we are confident no such use has occurred.”

NEW YORK -- The NCAA said Wednesday it won't allow Electronic Arts Inc. to use its logo and name in video games while it fights a lawsuit that says the governing body owes billions of dollars to former players for allowing their likenesses to be used for free.


The NCAA said it won't enter into a new contract with EA Sports beyond the current one that expires in June 2014. That means "NCAA Football 2014" will be the last edition of the popular game. However, EA Sports still plans to produce a college football video game depicting powerhouse schools such as Alabama, Ohio State and Oregon.


"Member colleges and universities license their own trademarks and other intellectual property for the video game," the NCAA said in a statement. "They will have to independently decide whether to continue those business arrangements in the future."


The Collegiate Licensing Company, which manages the trademarks of the majority of the colleges in Electronic Arts' NCAA football video game, said Wednesday it would continue to work with the video game maker for future editions of the franchise.


"EA Sports' trademark licensing agreement with the NCAA is set to expire, and the company will be re-branding its college football game so as to exclude the NCAA's name and marks," said Andrew Giangola, spokesman for IMG College, which owns CLC, in a statement.


The first non-NCAA-affiliated EA Sports college football video game will be called "College Football 15," a source told ESPN.


"EA Sports will continue to develop and publish college football games, but we will no longer include the NCAA names and marks," said EA executive vice president Andrew Wilson. "Our relationship with the Collegiate Licensing Co. is strong and we are already working on a new game for next generation consoles which will launch next year and feature the college teams, conferences and all the innovation fans expect from EA Sports."


The NCAA is in the midst of a long legal battle that started with a lawsuit filed by former UCLA basketball star Ed O'Bannon.


The suit has expanded to include several former athletes who claim the NCAA and EA Sports have used their names and likenesses without compensation and demand the NCAA find a way to give players a cut of the billions of dollars earned from live broadcasts, memorabilia sales and video games.


"We are confident in our legal position regarding the use of our trademarks in video games," the NCAA said. "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 has never licensed the use of current student-athlete names, images or likenesses to EA. The NCAA has no involvement in licenses between EA and former student-athletes."


The plaintiffs in the case against the NCAA would not be able to use the elimination of the EA Sports partnership as admissible evidence of the NCAA's guilt in court.