EA Sports Can Bring Back NCAA Football Pretty Easily

Is EA Sports bringing back NCAA Football? For the first time in two years, the world's largest video game maker posted a message on its seemingly dormant NCAA Football Facebook page, containing a short video of a heart monitor with the words, "Our heart still beats for the big game".

The message of course alludes to tonight's College Football Playoff National Championship game between Alabama and Clemson, but many are wondering why Electronic Arts (EA) would even bother posting something on a social media page for a video game that was discontinued after litigation (O'Bannon v. NCAA) between former college athletes and the NCAA led to a $60 million settlement in the players favor. Although EA never explicitly used player names in its NCAA series, a judged rules that the accurate roster numbers and corresponding attributes were enough to insinuate that players likenesses were being exploited beyond fair use and without just compensation.

Thus far, EA has denied that they are planning on relaunching the game, but that could simply be posturing in anticipation of a much larger announcement. Of course, the real question people should be asking is what does EA need to do to bring back the game?

In actuality, the answer is not all that complicated. The only thing the O'Bannon decision did (in regards to the game) was confirm that student-athletes had to be compensated if their name, likeness or image was being used to promote a product. While District judge Claudia Wilken ruled in the case that colleges should be permitted to place as much as $5,000 into a trust for each athlete per year of eligibility for just such a purpose, an appeals court struck down the ruling stating that compensation for cost-of-attendance was was sufficient under antitrust law to use a players’ names, images and likenesses. That being said, while colleges are now not legally obligated to create such trusts, nothing outside NCAA rules technically precludes them from doing so.

Indeed, if EA and the NCAA could come up with a fair rate of compensation for each football player for their associated rights - most likely based on the amount set in the O'Bannon ruling - it is likely that many schools would be open to creating a trust for just such a reason. Moreover, because of the appeals court ruling, it is theoretically possible that schools may be able to circumvent the trust all together and put the money back into their own coffers, subsequently using it to pay cost of attendance. This latter scenario is unlikely though as it could reignite further litigation from players.

And while some some argue that the massive litigation losses EA has already suffered make a relaunch of the game financially nonviable, that argument makes little sense. EA must pay the settlement whether or not it ever produces NCAA Football again. If the demand is there, and a deal can be struck with the NCAA and student-athletes, then why not bring the game to market again?

Electronic Arts brought in more than $4.5 billion in revenue in 2015, and counts more than $6 billion in net assets. It is highly likely that assuming both the NCAA and gaming market cooperate, NCAA Football could very well make a comeback.

Jason Belzer is Founder of GAME, Inc.  and a Professor of Organizational Behavior and Sports Law at Rutgers University. Follow him on Twitter @JasonBelzer.