EA's Return To College Football Draws Swift Blowback

REDWOOD CITY, CA — Electronic Arts is back in the college football game, but this time the Redwood City-based game developer won’t use the names or likenesses of athletes.

The move should keep EA’s legal team from reaching for the antacid, but it’s already causing its PR department heartburn.

Shortly after EA announced Tuesday morning on Twitter plans to bring back college football for the first time since a class action lawsuit chased the company off the field in 2013, it faced almost immediate blowback.

EA paid out $40 million in a 2016 settlement to athletes who filed a class action lawsuit against the company alleging it used their names and likenesses without authorization.

The company is working with Collegiate Licensing Company (CLC) to secure licensing deals for uniforms, stadiums and mascots of more than 100 Football Bowl Subdivision teams, The Verge reports.

The move to monetize the sport without paying collegiate athletes has already drawn rebuke from at least one public official.

Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy issued a statement Tuesday described the practice as a “grave injustice.”

“EA Sports’ college football series reboot is just further proof that the NCAA's priority is keeping their profits coming while keeping any and all revenue away from their athletes," Murphy said.

"Cutting athletes out of this reboot so they aren’t responsible for paying them for their likeness is a grave injustice, and I’ll be introducing legislation soon to help players finally profit off their talent so they don’t need to face continued mistreatment like this."

EA hasn't announced when the game will be available, ESPN reports.