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NCAA Will Not Renew License With EA to use NCAA name [Up: EA still making College FB]

V

VicDaMoan03

Member
jWILL253 said:
People are just looking right past the OP to hit the reply button.

This is the end of all college sports games. Instead of the NCAA manning the fuck up and paying the same players they make billions off the backs of, they backed out because they don't want to be held accountable. And for EA, this makes it a tough sell. Nobody will buy a college football game with only 1/8 of the entire nation's teams, especially not one with a generic name.

As for anybody else stepping into EA's place... 2K Sports learned long ago that it's impossible to sell a college sports game when it doesn't have the draw of professional leagues. If EA can't profit from it, then nobody can.

And EA just lost a flagship sports title. They are fucked...



.
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Thank you. This is what I've been saying all along..
 
J

jjasper

Member
All the CLC stuff says is it is not renewing the exclusive deal. We have no idea if they have or will renew the CLC license in a nonexclusive deal.
 
S

storybook77

Member
jjasper said:
All the CLC stuff says is it is not renewing the exclusive deal. We have no idea if they have or will renew the CLC license in a nonexclusive deal.
Click to expand...

Exactly. They state that they will not enter into any exclusive deal with CLC for at least a 5 year period after the contract ends.
 
B

Bgamer90

Banned
Enron said:
No, that Entity is the CLC. The CLC != NCAA.

Some of you are probably too young to remember, but back in the mid 90s the EA college football game did not have the NCAA license. It was called "Bill Walsh College Football".

EA doesn't need the NCAA to keep making their CFB game. They just need the CLC.
Click to expand...

Yep. However with this news + current gen NCAA sales dropping + low userbase for XB1 and PS4 = I can't see EA making a college football game for next gen anytime soon; possibly at all.
 
K

kirby_fox

Banned
Once the lawsuit is over, they'll just have players sign something that allows them to sell their likeness and then use some of that money to create some "scholarship" to look good. Either that or the whole rule about not making money will be taken away and the players will get compensation.

I'm surprised these exclusive deals really do all that well. They could be making money off of numerous yearly sequels instead of just the one.
 
M

Mr.Awesome

Banned
jWILL253 said:
People are just looking right past the OP to hit the reply button.

This is the end of all college sports games. Instead of the NCAA manning the fuck up and paying the same players they make billions off the backs of, they backed out because they don't want to be held accountable. And for EA, this makes it a tough sell. Nobody will buy a college football game with only 1/8 of the entire nation's teams, especially not one with a generic name.

As for anybody else stepping into EA's place... 2K Sports learned long ago that it's impossible to sell a college sports game when it doesn't have the draw of professional leagues. If EA can't profit from it, then nobody can.

And EA just lost a flagship sports title. They are fucked...



.
Click to expand...
479px-FACEPALM.png
 
S

storybook77

Member
Bgamer90 said:
Yep. However with this news + current gen NCAA sales dropping + low userbase for XB1 and PS4, I can't see EA making a college football game for next gen anytime soon; possibly at all.
Click to expand...

How expensive is the college game to develop though when the bulk of the gameplay (engine) work is done by the Madden crew under the same roof.
 
D

darkside31337

Tomodachi wa Mahou
jjasper said:
All the CLC stuff says is it is not renewing the exclusive deal. We have no idea if they have or will renew the CLC license in a nonexclusive deal.
Click to expand...

Right. It does also leave a window for somebody else to swoop in and get exclusivity though.

And that'd be something.
 
J

jWILL253

Banned
There's very little point in gaining access to a license if you're not gonna make it an exclusive one. Not every sports title is an NBA 2K or an MLB The Show, where all you have to do is show up and the competition will render itself irrelevant eventually...
 
D

daffy

Banned
jWILL253 said:
People are just looking right past the OP to hit the reply button.

This is the end of all college sports games. Instead of the NCAA manning the fuck up and paying the same players they make billions off the backs of, they backed out because they don't want to be held accountable. And for EA, this makes it a tough sell. Nobody will buy a college football game with only 1/8 of the entire nation's teams, especially not one with a generic name.

As for anybody else stepping into EA's place... 2K Sports learned long ago that it's impossible to sell a college sports game when it doesn't have the draw of professional leagues. If EA can't profit from it, then nobody can.

And EA just lost a flagship sports title. They are fucked...
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Click to expand...
Uhhh no. You're being way to hasty but thanks for illuminating the blind jWILL. and you basically waited until the CLC info was posted to make this call, which was not in the OP and is also not damning for EA just yet.
 
D

DigitalFirefly

Neo Member
Why is everyone saying there won't be a college football game next year? The way I read this, EA just can't use the NCAA logo or name in their games anymore. So they'll just call it something like College Football 15 instead of NCAA Football 15.
 
J

jWILL253

Banned
And besides... even if there is a window open for a publisher to grab the license (non-exclusively), why would any publisher chance a class action lawsuit from a group of former players? That's the whole damn reason they decided not to renew.

I feel like a lot of you are grasping at straws. Face it: college sports games are done. Sorry to tell you...
 
J

Jonboy

Member
Still haven't seen an official EA comment, but here's a tweet from a Brett McMurphy who covers college football at ESPN.

Brett McMurphy @McMurphyESPN
EA Sports will still have college football video game beyond 2014, just won't be affiliated w/NCAA

https://twitter.com/mcmurphyespn
 
B

Bgamer90

Banned
storybook77 said:
How expensive is the college game to develop though when the bulk of the gameplay (engine) work is done by the Madden crew under the same roof.
Click to expand...

It would make more sense to put all of that effort into Madden when it comes to next gen in my opinion.

Basically, I think they will pretty much do what they did with MVP baseball. After they changed it to NCAA MVP Baseball, they just put the games out for the old consoles (even after the 360 was released).

The current gen consoles will obviously have way more users than next gen for a long time. Put that in with the fact that changing current gen NCAA football after this news would take less effort than making a college football game from scratch for next gen. Then add in the fact that the game will probably sell less without the NCAA name.

Yeah, if they continue on with college football games, it will probably be just for 360/PS3. Would be greatly surprised if they made one for next gen.
 
S

storybook77

Member
jWILL253 said:
And besides... even if there is a window open for a publisher to grab the license (non-exclusively), why would any publisher chance a class action lawsuit from a group of former players? That's the whole damn reason they decided not to renew.

I feel like a lot of you are grasping at straws. Face it: college sports games are done. Sorry to tell you...
Click to expand...

Just make random players with random stats and tell fanboys to deal with it. Most will accept it, just to be able to play it, while bitching and moaning about it, of course.
 
S

storybook77

Member
jWILL253 said:
Ask EA how that plan is working so far...
Click to expand...

They still use the player numbers and close to realistic stats for said players. In other words, its not difficult to figure out who is who and rename them.

They just don't use the names.

O'Bannon's and others suit contend that the fact that they use an approximation (their physical attributes) of them is grounds for compensation.
 
L

LegoDad

Member
storybook77 said:
Just make random players with random stats and tell fanboys to deal with it. Most will accept it, just to be able to play it, while bitching and moaning about it, of course.
Click to expand...

With no NCAA on the box we can get real rosters and likeness now. It's up to the CLC members to decide if they want to allow it or not though. If not, EA will just let rosters be changed like now, no big deal.
 
T

The Albatross

Member
I wonder how many schools will individually license with EA and what EA could stand to gain by not licensing with the NCAA. The individual bowl game names are licensed individually; colleges are licensed individually... I think they'd lose some obvious branding, and also names like the "BCS" but, I wonder if it would also give them the ability (if they decide to make a game) to implement features that the NCAA has strong armed them to remove, like player suspensions, discipline and grade problems, and a playoff system.

I do not think that the NCAA is leaving EA for 2K Sports. The last 2K Sports college football game was 2K3 it was not a good game. 2K Canceled it for that reason (4 years before the race for exclusivity)

I really don't get why people are happy about this... NCAA Football has generally been a good, fan-loved series for years. But I guess it's just those EA blinders. People would rather there not be a college football game, than there be a college football game made by EA. They're effectively killing college sports videogames with this.
 
S

StoOgE

First tragedy, then farce.
storybook77 said:
Just make random players with random stats and tell fanboys to deal with it. Most will accept it, just to be able to play it, while bitching and moaning about it, of course.
Click to expand...

Would really hurt the yearly sales though without roster updates.
 
L

LegoDad

Member
The Albatross said:
I wonder how many schools will individually license with EA and what EA could stand to gain by not licensing with the NCAA. The individual bowl game names are licensed individually; colleges are licensed individually... I think they'd lose some obvious branding, and also names like the "BCS" but, I wonder if it would also give them the ability (if they decide to make a game) to implement features that the NCAA has strong armed them to remove, like player suspensions, discipline and grade problems, and a playoff system.

I do not think that the NCAA is leaving EA for 2K Sports. The last 2K Sports college football game was 2K3 it was not a good game. 2K Canceled it for that reason (4 years before the race for exclusivity)

I really don't get why people are happy about this... NCAA Football has generally been a good, fan-loved series for years. But I guess it's just those EA blinders. People would rather there not be a college football game, than there be a college football game made by EA. They're effectively killing college sports videogames with this.
Click to expand...

There will be no NCAA affiliation ever again. They are getting out. Schools don't individually agree, the CLC, and another group does, only a minute few are independent.

This will not kill college sports, and might actually make it easier for an NCAA Basketball game to come back now.
 
M

Miletius

Member
It makes sense. Wasn't it a player's likeness in NCAA football that caused the initial lawsuit to be filed? NCAA has been exposed as the middle-man here, they had no right to sell those likenesses and they did. Now it's up to EA (or whomever) to draw up new contracts with schools or individuals.
 
T

The Albatross

Member
Hmm, interested to see how that directs things now. The College game has a shit load of licenses when you launch it, is the CLC one of those now (in NCAA '14... I have it but I dont feel like launching)?

Also, does the NCAA own the rights to "March Madness" ? Because if the NCAA licenses that phrase and likeness, then it would be difficult for a college hoops videogame to be made without that familiarity. For mass market, Choops = March Madness.
 
L

LegoDad

Member
The Albatross said:
Hmm, interested to see how that directs things now. The College game has a shit load of licenses when you launch it, is the CLC one of those now (in NCAA '14... I have it but I dont feel like launching)?

Also, does the NCAA own the rights to "March Madness" ? Because if the NCAA licenses that phrase and likeness, then it would be difficult for a college hoops videogame to be made without that familiarity. For mass market, Choops = March Madness.
Click to expand...

March Madness is trademarked, you would have to pay for the right to use it. just call it College Hoops 2015.

Just because EA lost NCAA, it didn't lose any other licenses. NCAA was just for the logos and name.

This doesn't change much.
 
V

vg260

Member
If the NCAA is too worried about costly lawsuits, why wouldn't the individual schools be as well? Sounds like a logistical nightmare too. I'd think this doesn't bode well at all for future college games.
 
J

jjasper

Member
2n2 said:
If the NCAA is too worried about costly lawsuits, why wouldn't the individual schools be as well? Sounds like a logistical nightmare too. I'd think this doesn't bode well at all for future college games.
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Because the NCAA prevents the schools from paying the players so if someone sued the schools over it, the schools can just point to the NCAA and blame them.
 
N

Ninja Scooter

Member
Is the NCAA name even really that important outside of the game space? You don't ever really hear people say "Do you follow NCAA football?" or "I need to tune into ESPN today to watch NCAA Gameday to see how my team did". It's known as College Football or College Basketball almost universally.
 
M

Madness

Member
A lot of wishful thinking in this thread. NCAA games had almost zero sales outside the US.

Without the license, EA will have to license all the individual schools etc. Why would 2K sports make a college game? They barely had the money to continue with NHL against EA.

I think it's safe to say college games are officially done. It was the deep pockets and large studios of EA that even allowed them to be that good in the first place.
 
F

FUBAR McDangles

Member
I realize it's a different sport, but hopefully this licensing with each college individually allows the NHL games to bring in some of the D1 programs into their game.

It's not like there are a whole lot. Just doing the top 15-20 would be amazing.
 
L

LegoDad

Member
Madness said:
A lot of wishful thinking in this thread. NCAA games had almost zero sales outside the US.

Without the license, EA will have to license all the individual schools etc. Why would 2K sports make a college game? They barely had the money to continue with NHL against EA.

I think it's safe to say college games are officially done. It was the deep pockets and large studios of EA that even allowed them to be that good in the first place.
Click to expand...

FUBAR McDangles said:
I realize it's a different sport, but hopefully this licensing with each college individually allows the NHL games to bring in some of the D1 programs into their game.

It's not like there are a whole lot. Just doing the top 15-20 would be amazing.
Click to expand...

It's amazing how people don't read... smh

Ninja Scooter said:
Is the NCAA name even really that important outside of the game space? You don't ever really hear people say "Do you follow NCAA football?" or "I need to tune into ESPN today to watch NCAA Gameday to see how my team did". It's known as College Football or College Basketball almost universally.
Click to expand...

This. It doesn't change anything. NCAA isn't important.
 
D

Deadly Cyclone

Pride of Iowa State
jWILL253 said:
And besides... even if there is a window open for a publisher to grab the license (non-exclusively), why would any publisher chance a class action lawsuit from a group of former players? That's the whole damn reason they decided not to renew.

I feel like a lot of you are grasping at straws. Face it: college sports games are done. Sorry to tell you...
Click to expand...

There is too much money in college sports games (specifically football) for them to be done. So, not agreeing with you there.
 
L

LegoDad

Member
darkside31337 said:
owengood
My understanding is some kind of a joint statement from EA Sports and the Collegiate Licensing Company is coming soon.

Yeah definitely expect some statement soon
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Correct there is a deal with the CLC and it can't be exclusive, which would allow anyone to make a college game (Football, Basketball, Baseball). I also expect the NFL to do something similar soon, but we will see.
 
F

FUBAR McDangles

Member
caliblue15 said:
It's amazing how people don't read... smh
Click to expand...

How does my post have anything to do with not reading?

I read the OP, I read IGN.com's article on the issue, and part of this article posted. It's wishful thinking on my part but seeing the NCAA cracking on their resolve when it comes to video games is awesome.

Especially since before NHL 11 came out, EA was apparently close to getting NCAA D1 college hockey programs into the game until the NCAA shut it down.

Getting teams like Minnesota, UMD, St Cloud, UND, Boston, Boston U, Michigan, and others would be fantastic.
 
S

StrikerObi

Member
They'll put a new name on it. If I'm lucky, they'll go the Madden route and put a legendary coach on it. Given that Paterno is dead and disgraced, I'm pretty sure Bobby Bowden will be their top pick. If they want a current coach, who knows... none of them seem right for it.
 
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