greasywheels121 Posted March 28, 2005 Share Posted March 28, 2005 http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/sportsbusin...tory?id=2014075 Use of athletes' names, likeness would be prohibited By Darren Rovell, ESPN.com It's that time of year again when NCAA officials have a hard time justifying that college sports is the last bastion of amateurism. The organization's contract with CBS for March Madness will once again yield more than $500 million, providing the lion's share of the annual NCAA budget and scholarships for its member institutions. The NCAA is soon expected to darken the fine line between selling college sports and exploiting its athletes. That's because last month the agents and amateurism subcommittee asked the cabinet to sponsor legislation that would prohibit an institution, conference or the NCAA from using the name or likeness of an individual student-athlete on retail products such as jerseys and video games. If the proposal is advanced by the Division I Management Council in July, it would come up for a final vote next April. Schools currently sell jerseys of specific athletes by featuring their numbers only, as the NCAA has maintained that the numbers are technically interchangeable and are property of the school. In video games, athletes appear at their appropriate positions in college football and basketball games but are known only by number and don't include names or the look of the athletes. "We draw the line at facial features or names on jerseys," NCAA president Myles Brand said recently. Last June, the NCAA met with a select group of athletes, including Notre Dame guard Chris Thomas. At the meeting, Thomas reportedly said that he enjoyed seeing his number jersey around campus and didn't resent that he didn't receive money for it. But that might not be the opinion of many star student-athletes whose jerseys have been sold at the school bookstore. Former Michigan State guard Mateen Cleaves and former Syracuse guard Carmelo Anthony told ESPN.com last year that they believe they should have received a cut from their jersey sales. Video game makers, which have previously agreed not to use names, have a greater issue than the jersey manufacturers since the piece of legislation will prohibit them from using names and facial features of players in the future. Because they can't do so, their games are less realistic than games in other professional sports. In recent years, producers of games have done all they can to get closer by including mascots and cheerleaders and even signing deals with college coaches. "We talk to these athletes and they are all playing our game," said Chip Lange, vice president of marketing for EA Sports. "They want to be featured in the game. That's part of the fun factor of being a successful athlete. But the NCAA is looking at it from a standpoint of protecting the image or status of their athletes and that's something that they hold as one of their pillars." "I suppose the NCAA doesn't want to appear like they are rocking the boat and do anything more than the jersey numbers, but the bottom line is that by selling jerseys with specific numbers, they've already crossed that line," said NCAA critic Ramogi Huma, who is the chairman of the Collegiate Athletes Coalition, which hopes to unionize current athletes. "The future use of players' names on jerseys and likenesses in video games should not be banned. It's just that athletes should get paid for it. It's not pay-for-play. It's pay-for-fame." Pat Battle, president and chief executive of the Collegiate Licensing Company, which represents more than 150 colleges and universities in the $2.7 billion collegiate merchandise sales market, says that an NCAA bylaw prohibiting collegiate athletes' names and likenesses in video games could lead to college sports becoming less relevant with the youth whose interest in the games drives interest in the actual games. "My biggest concern is strictly from a technology perspective," Battle said. "The best features in today's games center around facial features and if the collegiate market doesn't match their pro counterparts in this area, the disparity in the quality of the games will continue to increase." Battle said that he believes the issue of exploiting just star athletes might be alleviated if video game companies were allowed to use entire college roster of players, instead of just selected playmakers. Gamers who play college sports games have gotten around not having the names of their favorite players by manually inputting them. There are even companies that have started selling full rosters on a memory card so that gamers can use the real names without having to type them in themselves. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nokona Posted March 28, 2005 Share Posted March 28, 2005 That is ridiculous. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
knightni Posted March 28, 2005 Share Posted March 28, 2005 The faces on the game never really looked much like the players anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SnB Posted March 28, 2005 Share Posted March 28, 2005 I can't wait for dee brown to look like me. Pale and white. YES Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WilliamTell Posted March 28, 2005 Share Posted March 28, 2005 It makes me mad that they don't have their names on the game anyways. I understand why they don't, but if they do this, I'll never buy another NCAA game again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southsider2k5 Posted March 28, 2005 Share Posted March 28, 2005 This is totally fair. If the NCAA is going to exploit these kids for money, they should have to share the funds with them. Its garbage that the NCAA rakes in these billions of dollars off of the backs of these kids. This is a good start towards leveling things out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pauly8509CWS Posted March 28, 2005 Share Posted March 28, 2005 QUOTE(Soxnbears01 @ Mar 27, 2005 -> 10:50 PM) I can't wait for dee brown to look like me. Pale and white. YES Haha, sounds like EA will have to come up with more Jon Dowds... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T R U Posted March 28, 2005 Share Posted March 28, 2005 QUOTE(Soxnbears01 @ Mar 27, 2005 -> 10:50 PM) I can't wait for dee brown to look like me. Pale and white. YES What the hell? This doesnt mean they are going to make a black player white and a white player black are they??? That would be horrible and really ruin the game for me.. Even if they change their numbers that will piss me off... MAN, I am pissed off Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Be Good Posted March 29, 2005 Share Posted March 29, 2005 Yeah thats also the reason I only own 1 ncaa game, which is final four 2003. Because you dont get to know the players because of the numbers. But if there going to make it even more ridiculous, they're goin to lose a lot sales. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rex Hudler Posted March 29, 2005 Share Posted March 29, 2005 I play NCAA Football all the time and got the rosters from one of the companies mentioned. I think it's great. In football, I don't need to see what a player specifically looks like, he's wearing a helmet! I really don't think you will see much change from the way the games are right now. The thing is, the ability for the game companies to create the likenesses of players is getting better and better. All this will do is negate that and keep things pretty much as they are. I don't see this as a big deal at all. If you want the names, you can still get those, you just have to get them separately. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SnB Posted March 29, 2005 Share Posted March 29, 2005 QUOTE(T R U @ Mar 28, 2005 -> 11:28 AM) What the hell? This doesnt mean they are going to make a black player white and a white player black are they??? That would be horrible and really ruin the game for me.. Even if they change their numbers that will piss me off... MAN, I am pissed off nah, just exaggerating. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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