Attorneys in the class-action lawsuit alleging that EA Sports' exclusive publication of NFL football games constitutes an illegal monopoly last week told a judge that they have finalized settlement terms alluded to back in May, and that no later than a week from today, will file them with the court and a motion for the judge's approval of them.
In a quarterly filing back in May, Electronic Arts said it anticipated paying out a $27 million settlement sometime at the end of this year, but it didn't say what legal action it was related to.
This lawsuit, Pecover vs. Electronic Arts, was filed in July 2008 and alleged that the exclusive license EA Sports obtained from the NFL to make its Madden series allowed the publisher to raise prices on its video games by 70 percent. EA Sports' NCAA and its defunct Arena Football products also are involved. It is a class action, meaning anyone who bought one of those games made after Jan. 1, 2005 (not any mobile versions though) is eligible to part of the settlement, unless they chose to opt out.
If $27 million is indeed the settlement figure, it's likely that a large hunk of will pay legal fees, with the remainder divided among millions of customers in the form of some kind of coupon, rebate, or giveaway. Either way, we should know very soon. The filing is at the link below.
Pecover et al v. Electronic Arts Inc. [Justia via Pastapadre]