EA Sports is in some serious trouble.
A NIL branding organization dropped major news after they filed a lawsuit against EA Sports over offers to players to get featured in its upcoming college football video game.
According to a report from the Front Office Sports, The Brandr Group filed a lawsuit on Tuesday in the Northern District of California. They are claiming that EA Sports is attempting to “circumvent” negotiations by allowing athletes to opt into next year’s NCAA Football for a reported rate of $500 with no royalties.
“[EA Sports] places TBG’s Partner Schools in the unenviable position of either breaching their contracts with TBG or potentially losing the opportunity for themselves and their athletes to participate in the game,” the lawsuit said. “EA’s tactics will also cause irreparable harm to TBG’s Client Athletes, and to every student-athlete who opts-in to their scheme for unfair compensation, because they are being deprived of the opportunity to have their own representative negotiate on their behalves for fair compensation for the use of their NIL.”
It was previously reported that EA was offering deals through OneTeam Partners, but The Brandr Group alleges that not giving them the opportunity to advocate on their clients’ behalf amounts to “tortious interference.”
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“Our primary concern is advocating for student-athletes, ensuring they have a voice and are justly represented in all matters pertaining to the use of their NIL,” The Brandr Group said in a statement. “We believe that student-athletes are not receiving fair market value for their NIL rights and that the contractual rights asked for may limit other NIL gaming opportunities.”
The cash pool for athletes was in the $5 million neighborhood, which would pay out to $500 per player. In response, the College Football Players Association urged athletes to boycott the game, with the hope EA will reconsider its payout to athletes.
Justin Falcinelli and CFBPA founder Jason Stahl stated earlier this month they have already been in touch with athletes about not handing over their NIL rights to EA in exchange for the payout. The players could instead lead an effort to boycott the game.
The highly-anticipated EA Sports College Football video game remains in development ahead of its expected release in 2024, but there is no telling what this lawsuit may do with the timing of the release going forward.
