Fifteen years ago, former Nebraska and Arizona State quarterback Sam Keller filed a class-action lawsuit that in 2013 resulted in Electronic Arts Sports mothballing its popular College Football video game. Why? The game featured players that did not have real-life names, but resembled every player on every roster in almost every other way.
EA settled with Keller, et. al., for $40 million and the NCAA chipped in another $20 million. Sounds like a lot but payments to each player ranged from about $1,500 to $15,000.
Keller, for his part, was flogged in the public square of social media for “ruining the video game for us.