Newsletter, Image, Likeness Vol. 68: Looking At The Terms Of The EA Sports Group Licensing Deal

The Weekly Longer NIL Thought.

Electronic Arts Inc. is starting the process of asking college football players to opt in to grant their publicity rights to the corporation for the purpose of including their names and likenesses in a forthcoming EA Sports College Football video game.

I got my hands on the 3-page contract that EA intends to cause players to sign and figured I would use this space to discuss it.

The contract begins with a section that defines certain terms, including the "Term" of the relationship between EA and the player. It defines the Term as the time of the player's acceptance of the agreement until the conclusion of the last college football season during which the player has exhausted his eligibility to participate on an NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision team.

At first glance, this seems excessive. But if you shift to Paragraph 14 of the document, you will see that the player has the right, for any reason, to later opt out and not be included in future games as long as the opt-out is received by EA between December 1 and December 31 of any year during the Term and, to the extent the player's NIL rights were included in any games released before the notice, EA is not required to remove the player's NIL rights from any such game.

The compensation isn't great, but it's something. EA will pay players $600 as a licensing fee, as well as 1 complimentary digital game code, for each game (released on an annual basis) that the player is included in. Jason Stahl , Executive Director of the College Football Players Association (CFBPA), previously called for players to boycott the licensing deal when it was suggested that they would be in line to earn a $500 licensing fee to participate in the game (see Vol. 31).

EA does make it clear that the $600 payment doesn't give EA unlimited rights. In fact, if EA wants to use a player on the cover of the game or in a marketing activation, then it will need to come to a separate agreement with said player. In speaking with some agents, I understand that EA has already started to communicate with some talent surrounding same. More marketable athletes will maintain more leverage if they hold off on opting in to the group licensing arrangement while they negotiate such a side deal.

There's A Massive Decrease In # Of Underclassmen Declaring For NFL Draft.

And NIL may be having a major influence.

Only 54 underclassmen have petitioned the NFL for early entry compared to 82 last year and 135 in 2019.

NIL Has Also Had An Impact On The G League Ignite.

"I think given that that's happened, I think we are in the process of reassessing Team Ignite," Adam Silver said as part of his annual All-Star Weekend news conference. "Because now some of those same players who didn't want to be one-and-done players because they felt it was unfair and they wanted the ability not just to earn a living playing basketball but to do commercial deals that weren't available to them at college, to hire professional agents, an opportunity that wasn't available to them at college, they now -- all of those same opportunities have become available to them.

"I'm not sure what the future of Team Ignite will be, because before there was a hole in the marketplace that we thought we were filling before doing that, and now my focus is turning to earlier development of those players."

California Considering Legislation To Bring Transparency To NIL Deals.

California State Senator Nancy Skinner announced a bill that, if signed into law, would require NIL collectives and other entities that enter into NIL deals to provide the following information to colleges that the athletes attend:

• The amount of compensation and the value of item(s) or service(s) provided to the athlete or the student athlete’s immediate family;
• The athletic team for which the athlete currently plays or the team for which it is anticipated the athlete will play;
• The student athlete’s gender; and
• The total amount of compensation and the value of the items and services provided to all athletes at the postsecondary institution each year by sport and gender.

Opendorse Is Preparing A Service That Allows Schools To Send NIL Opportunities To Athletes.

This Is What Matt Rhule Would Like To See With NIL.

“I’d prefer to have some measure of control," said Rhule. "I don’t want our players looking at me as the financial guy. At the same time, being able to have conversations with people would be good because they’re talking to somebody. We can’t really be involved in the conversations. That’s what the lawsuits are about now, to allow us to be involved in the process.”

Florida DL Buys Mom New Home With NIL Money.

How do you not love this?

Houston Basketball Team Signs 6-Figure Deal.

The deal is with LOOT8 .

Texas RB Jerrick Gibson Signs With GSE As His Agency.

He will work directly with GSE's EVP of Marketing, Russ Spielman .

Are College Coaches Tired Of NIL Money?

Adam Schefter seems to think so.

But At Least 1 Coach Says They Should Shut Up.

Arizona State coach Kenny Dillingham said, "I literally spent nine years of my life doing anything to become a coffee boy. So, don't give me the 'Oh, it's hard to be a coach right now.' Yeah, it's hard. Then quit."

Final Thoughts.

That is it for Vol. 68 of Newsletter, Image, Likeness. Thanks to the more than 8,230 people who have subscribed to this newsletter thus far, and please feel free to share this free resource with others on LinkedIn or elsewhere.

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