The Brandr Group, which negotiates group licensing deals for over 50 Division I schools, is suing EA Sports over name, image and likeness deals being offered to athletes for the upcoming EA Sports College Football video game, according to documents obtained by Front Office Sports. EA Sports reportedly contacted the Brandr Group several times from 2021-22 to discuss its plans to offer NIL deals to athletes with transactions being negotiated through The Brandr Group. However, in May 2023, EA Sports chose to work with OneTeam Partners to facilitate any group bargaining.
The Brandr Group is arguing that it should still be allowed to negotiate any contracts or deals for athletes at the schools it represents. It also made the claim that EA Sports' decision to offer the ability to opt into a deal that does not include The Brandr Group is "tortious interference."
"EA 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 reads. "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."
Multiple reports have indicated that the current deal, worked with OneTeam Partners, offers around $500 to each player that opts into having their name, image and likeness used in the game. College Football Players Association president Justin Falcinelli urged players to boycott EA Sports' game in response to the reported offer.
"You should not participate in this," Falcinelli told On3. "It is a simple cash grab to just try to get you for the lowest amount possible. And it's OneTeam Partners and all these organizations that don't really represent the players' best interest."
What the lawsuit means for game's future
The Brandr Group's lawsuit does not concern the reported $500 offer, nor are there any college athletes involved in the lawsuit. The issue here is not compensation, rather which group represents the players and schools that EA Sports wants to include in the college football video game during negotiations.
Brandr's allegations amount to seeking involvement with any deals that EA Sports makes with the 54 Division I schools for whom Brandr typically handles NIL licensing. Fans might panic because the original line of NCAA-branded video games were killed off by a lawsuit, but that was a different scenario.
In July 2009, former UCLA basketball player Ed O'Bannon filed a lawsuit against the NCAA and the Collegiate Licensing Company alleging that an EA Sports title used his likeness without first acquiring his position. Eventually, over 20 former collegiate athletes joined as plaintiffs. In 2014, the court ruled in O'Bannon's favor. The NCAA ended its licensing agreement with EA Sports in 2013, making "NCAA Football 14" the final installment in EA's college-angled sports video game series.
As things stand, the return of the game, currently titled "EA Sports College Football," is slated for a 2024 release.
