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EA Sports settles lawsuit with college athletes for $60 million

Graham Watson

College football and basketball players who appeared in the EA Sports video game franchises from 2003 to 2014 have been awarded a $60 million settlement.

According to ESPN.com, 24,819 players are eligible for payment. However, the awards will be issued on a weighted scale. If a player appeared in an earlier version of the game, they will receive less money than a player who appeared later in the franchise.That's because there was more specificity in the likenesses of players during the later versions of the games. Also, lawyers are entitled to 30 percent of their client's settlement.

UCLA basketball player Ed O'Bannon, former Rutgers quarterback Ryan Hart and former Nebraska and Arizona State quarterback Sam Keller, the lead plaintiffs in the case, are expected to receive the biggest shares of the money, which is estimated to be $15,000. Twenty-one other players will receive approximately $5,000 for being class action representatives.

O’Bannon brought the original suit against EA Sports stating that collegiate athletes should get paid for use of their names, images and likenesses. The suit resulted in the end of the NCAA Football franchise in July 2013.

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Graham Watson is the editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at dr.saturday@ymail.com or follow her on Twitter!

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