It looks like the EA lawsuit regarding player likenesses is going to have lasting consequences for their football franchises, as the Southeastern Conference (SEC), Big Ten Conference and Pacific 12 Conference have all joined NCAA in deciding not to license their trademarks with EA for their future football games.
Almost a month ago, EA and NCAA lost their lawsuit to the college athletes who alleged that EA used their likenesses without permission. In the fallout of said ruling, NCAA declared that they would not longer be licensing their name for EA's college football games. EA then cited a strong relationship with the Collegiate Licensing Company that would allow them to move forward with getting football licenses.
SEC released a statement explaining that each university decides separately if they want to license to video game companies for their football teams, but they have decided not to. They also point out that they have never licensed their trademark, as well as their teams or their players, to use in any video games.
Unlike the NCAA which cited financial concerns, SEC and the other big football college conferences have not provided any specific reason not to sign up with EA. However, their statement implies that they have seen the issues that could come about from signing up in such an agreement with EA, and may not want to get into a similar situation. If one were less cynical, one could say they are looking out for the players and schools themselves.
EA can still try to approach individual schools and players to get licenses, as well as smaller entities like the Atlantic Coast Conference, but could a football game without a license at all be all that bad? If their name means something in this industry, it shouldn't be a roadblock at all.
Source: ESPN
