College athletes who were featured in EA Sports video games since 2003 are finally getting paid for the use of their likeness. Take that, NCAA.
Football and basketball plaintiffs filed a $40 million settlement Friday with video game manufacturer EA Sports and the Collegiate Licensing Corporation, according to multiple reports. As many as 100,000 former players could receive up to $4,000.
MORE: No more college football video games
"I'm thrilled that for the first time in the history of college sports, athletes will get compensated for their performance," Co-lead counsil for the plaintiffs Steve Berman told ESPN.com's Tom Farrey. "It's pretty groundbreaking."
The settlement must be approved by U.S. District Court Judge Claudia Wilken.
Players whose likenesses were used in the games will be notified about the availability of the mulah based on how many years they were on the games' rosters, according to ESPN's report. The players must register in order to receive compensation. The fewer the players who register, the more money each registered player receives.
Current players who have appeared in games over the last few years will be compensated, too, creating an ironic situation for the NCAA, who of course refuses to allow athletes to receive monetary compensation for anything involving athletics. But Berman told ESPN he doesn't expect any problems.
Mark Ingram on the cover of EA Sports' NCAA Football 12 (AP Photo)
"They've released statements saying they wouldn't [object]," he said. To me, the definition of a professional is someone who earns a living at what they do. A payment of $2,000 to $4,000 is not earning a living."
The fact that the NCAA allowed players' avatars in the video games but claimed that they didn't directly represent the athletes because names were left off is simply comical. The names could easily be downloaded, and there's also this reality:
From the settlement: "EA's internal spreadsheets show that each avatar was matched to dozens of the real student-athlete's identifying characteristics ... For example, for the NCAA football videogame, EA matched: (1) the name of the real student-athlete; (2) his real-life jersey number; (3) his position played; (4) his hometown; (5) his year of eligibility; (6) his athletic abilities (on at least 22 dimensions, including speed, strength, agility, etc.); (7) his physical characteristics (on at least 26 dimensions, including, weight, height, skin color, face geometry, hair style, muscle shape, etc.); and (8) how he dressed for games in real life (on at least 28 dimensions, including shoes, how they taped, braces worn, undershirts, facemask and helmet styles, etc.)."
Although sports nuts remain deprived of college football and basketball video games, this settlement at least seems like a step in the right direction. The NCAA's reported leniency regarding the settlement shows that, someday, guys like Tim Tebow and Mark Ingram can profit from "Tim Tebow" and "Mark Ingram" while in school.