After years of legal battles over the use of likenesses of college athletes, the video game company EA Sports will stop producing the college football game. 
Settlements with both EA Sports and Collegiate Licensing Company, leaves the NCAA as lone litigant in the class-action lawsuits spearheaded by former college quarterback Sam Keller and former UCLA basketball player Ed O’Bannon. The settlement comes just days after the protests by college football players who are looking to improve their rights.
According to NCPAnow.org, there are four primary goals of the #AllPlayersUnited campaign.
- Demonstrate unity among college athletes and fans in favor of NCAA reform.
- Show support for players who joined concussion lawsuits against the NCAA, which could “force the NCAA to finally take meaningful steps to minimize brain trauma in contact sports and provide resources for current and former players suffering with brain injuries.”
- Show support for the players who “stepped up in the O’Bannon v. NCAA, EA Sports lawsuit regarding the use of players’ images/likeliness, which could unlock billions of dollars in resources for current, future, and former players.”
- Stand behind individual players being “harmed by NCAA rules.”
Quarterbacks Vad Lee – Georgia Tech and Kain Colter – Northwestern along with several others wrote “APU (All Players United)” on their game-day gear to show unity.
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