A lot has changed over the last 16 years, especially in college sports. Ed O’Bannon, the UCLA star who helped lead the Bruins men’s college basketball team to its most recent national championship in 1995, helped spark a lot of that change with the O’Bannon v. NCAA lawsuit. Recently, as a guest columnist for Sportico, O’Bannon discussed how things have changed.
In the article, O’Bannon recalled the event that got the wheels rolling in what turned out to be O’Bannon v. NCAA.
In 2009, well after his playing days were over, he was at a friend’s house. There, his friend’s son was playing March Madness. On the screen, O’Bannon saw himself. The game had everything about O’Bannon, with one notable exception.
“The game noticeably didn’t have my name, but it had everything else: Number 31. 6’8”. 222 pounds. Power forward. Left-handed,” he remembered. “It was very cool. Ironically, my friend mentioned how he paid $60 for the game. I had no idea that this likeness was created, because no one from EA Sports contacted me about it to ask for my approval or to use my NIL. And I definitely didn’t receive a dime.”
O’Bannon then recalled the NCAA’s history of fighting battles in the court, including O’Bannon v. NCAA. He noted that the lawsuits were all unsuccessful for the NCAA and that the latest, House v. NCAA, likely would have been as well were it not for a settlement reached in June.
“For decades, the NCAA spent many millions in court fighting against basic fairness and coming up with rules to treat athletes like we were second-class citizens,” O’Bannon said. “It was a losing strategy. The NCAA lost O’Bannon v. NCAA. They lost NCAA v. Alston. They lost the War on NIL. They were going to lose House v. NCAA until they faced up to reality and cut a deal. I’m glad the settlement will pay $2.8 billion to athletes who would have made video games and other NIL money but for NCAA rules.”
Early in the article, recalled that because of his legal challenges, he was “EA’s enemy No. 1” in 2009. Despite that, he noted that, while it’s still a few years away, if EA reached out to him about being in its upcoming college basketball game, he’d probably be on board.
“I understand EA’s college basketball game won’t be released until 2028,” he said. “In the meantime, maybe EA will reach out to former players on classic teams and ask us to be in the game. I’d be inclined to say yes. I know my grandkids would like me in it. And unlike before, where players’ names were stripped right before the game was published, this time the game would say my name. Doing the right thing can be as easy as a layup. We’re finally seeing that with college athletes’ rights. Keep it up.”