The NCAA cancelled its relationship with EA Sports in 2013, due in part to a settled lawsuit that ended up with former players getting a cut of the money the association made off the NCAA Football video games.
EA Sports says cryptic video wasn’t an ‘NCAA Football’ tease
If this post wasn’t about the game’s eventual return, it sure got a lot of people thinking it might be.
However, this video post by the game’s official Facebook page makes it seem like there is some hope for a return of the game:
Posted by EA SPORTS NCAA Football on Monday, January 11, 2016
This was the page’s first post since July 2014.
However, an EA Sports rep said, “No news, sorry to get your hopes up,” via Polygon’s Owen Good. The rep says the post is about Monday night’s National Championship.
Why the heartbeat? Here’s what EA Sports told SB Nation: “We have no new plans or announcements to make regarding the EA SPORTS NCAA Football series. Today’s National Championship game reminds us more than ever that the hearts in our community still beat for college football.”
EA Sports wanted to continue the game, and it was willing to pay for the likenesses of players — thus, giving the players a cut — to do so. That would make the game even more authentic, as it could then include player names like NFL video games do, instead of just players’ numbers. However, the NCAA did not allow it, as the association claims it would violate the ever-changing definition of amateurism.
The Facebook post wasn’t made in error, an EA Sports source told SB Nation’s James Brady, and EA still expects litigation to continue through 2017.
See More:
By Kofie Yeboah, Harry Lyles Jr. and 5 more
