INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana. July 17 - The National Collegiate Athletic Association will not be renewing its contract with EA Sports, which is set to expire in June next year.
The decision comes following several lawsuits in the last few years, including last year's class-action lawsuit that condemned EA for using the likeness of NCAA athletes without compensation.
NCAA's full statement regarding its denial of renewal:
"The NCAA has made the decision not to enter a new contract for the license of its name and logo for the EA Sports NCAA Football video game. The current contract expires in June 2014, but our timing is based on the need to provide EA notice for future planning. As a result, the NCAA Football 2014 video game will be the last to include the NCAA's name and logo. We are confident in our legal position regarding the use of our trademarks in video games. But given the current business climate and costs of litigation, we determined participating in this game is not in the best interests of the NCAA.
The NCAA has never licensed the use of current student-athlete names, images or likenesses to EA. The NCAA has no involvement in licenses between EA and former student-athletes. Member colleges and universities license their own trademarks and other intellectual property for the video game. They will have to independently decide whether to continue those business arrangements in the future."
ESPN's Brett Mcmurphy assured that EA Sports will still be releasing a college football games in the future, although they will not be affiliated with NCAA.
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