Judge Grants Final Approval to $60M NCAA Video Game Class Action Settlement

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A California federal judge granted final approval orally to a $60 million class action settlement over the use of the names, images and likenesses of college football and men’s college basketball players in NCAA-branded video games.

U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken gave the approval at a hearing last Thursday, according to one of the attorneys who was in attendance, the USA Today is reporting. Judge Wilken also said that the athletes who qualified for benefits from the class action settlement could have a four week extension to file a claim through July 31. The original claims deadline was July 2.

Judge Wilken is also reportedly considering reducing the attorneys’ fees from 33 percent of the class action settlement award to 30 percent of the settlement fund. The decision would free up more funds for the athletes who are Class Members in the NCAA video game class action settlement.

As it stands, attorney Steve Berman, who is representing the plaintiffs, said that Class Members who had the most exposure in NCAA video games could get $7,200 from the class action settlement.

According to court documents, the number of claims were at 20,200 that were filed by the July 2, and that since the online claims form was kept up after the July 2 deadline, another 200 claims were filed by July 14.

“It’s a landmark day,” Berman said. “It’s the first time student-athletes will get paid for use of their name, image and likeness — and we’re anxious to get the settlement funds to the students.”

After Judge Wilken finalizes her approval of the NCAA video game likeness class action settlement, there will be a 30 day window for appeals. Money could begin going out to the athletes following that 30 day period, assuming no appeals are made. That would mean that checks may start going out by early September, Berman said.

There is currently a fight with the attorneys representing the plaintiffs over how to divide up the attorneys’ fees, but Berman believes that once that amount is set by the judge, it shouldn’t prevent checks from going out to the athletes.

This class action lawsuit was filed by plaintiff Samuel Keller against the NCAA; Electronic Arts (EA), the video game maker; and the Collegiate Licensing Company, which manages the trademark licensing and marketing.

The class action settlement is for college football players and men’s basketball players who were on a team roster who were part of video game published or distributed from May 2003 through September 2014. If an athlete is still on a team, the payout will not affect the player’s NCAA eligibility.

Another class action lawsuit filed over the use of the college athletes’ likenesses could affect athletes who played college sports in the 1930s “because of historic video games,” but most of the players “attended school between 2002 and 2012.”

That class action lawsuit was filed by former UCLA basketball player Ed O’Bannon Jr., which also includes antitrust charges against the NCAA.

Athletes could receive a payout from one or both of the class action settlements.

The payments to the athletes in this class action lawsuit will be determined by criteria approved by Judge Wilken based on the number of validated claims rates, whether a player’s name was on a team roster, whether the player’s jersey number was on a virtual avatar, whether his picture appeared in the video game, which years his picture or avatar appeared in the video game, and the number years these things took place.

The NCAA Student Athlete Licensing Class Action Lawsuits are Samuel Keller, et al. v. Electronics Arts Inc., et al., Case No. 09-cv-01967, and Ed O’Bannon Jr., et al. v. National Collegiate Athletic Association et al., Case No. 09-cv-03329, both in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

UPDATE: On Apr. 13, 2016, Top Class Actions readers started receiving checks from this settlement worth as much as $85.29.