College Football Video Game Release Date Could Be Delayed If California Court Grants Restraining Order Against EA Sports
Where The Brandr Group's lawsuit against EA Sports was not a big deal before, its most recent filing could spell trouble for the release of the upcoming college football video game. Could is the key word. There are a lot of different factors at play, and a long way to go before it becomes an issue, but concern is heightened.
More than likely, it is not going to impact the release. It might impact the game itself.
The Brandr Group, a sports agency based out of Florida, has agreements to facilitate group licensing deals for 54 Division-I schools and their athletes. As such, its constituents believe that EA Sports should have to go through them for any NIL deals or branding agreements involving the NCAA Football game.
Initially, EA Sports was on board. They reportedly spoke on multiple occasions.
However, EA Sports then decided to work with OneTeam Partners for any group bargaining agreements. That pissed off The Brandr Group, which led it to file a fairly insignificant lawsuit.
NCAA Football was still set to be released in the summer of 2024 as planned.
The Brandr Group has since made it more complicated. As first reported by Front Office Sports, it has filed a request for a temporary restraining order against EA Sports.
The restraining order would strictly prohibit EA from offering deals to the schools and athletes that The Brandr Group represents. In turn, it could cause the game's release to delay.
The Brandr Group will be hated by college football fans everywhere.
EA Sports still plans to release the game next summer. The restraining order could force the video game company to change its plans, or hold the release back all together.
Boise State sports law professor Sam Ehrlich told Front Office Sports that the requests of the restraining order is three-fold:
EA Sports doesn't believe that Brandr's restraining order requests have any merit. Same with the lawsuit.
However, should the court rule in Brandr's favor, it could muddy the waters in two ways:
Those two scenarios would leave EA Sports with a decision.
EA Sports could push forward in production without Brandr's athletes and schools. It could be forced to sit down at the negotiating table with Brandr for it schools and athletes.
In the worst case scenario, EA Sports may decide that it is not be able to move forward with its college football video game without those schools and athletes. That would cause the delay in release.
When push comes to shove, though, EA Sports isn't worried. It plans to drop the game next summer, whether actual players are in the game or not. This restraining order and lawsuit could hurt the players more than the game itself.