NFL retirees sue union over Madden video game royalties

[Patriots Game]

October 20, 2008
Associated Press
SAN FRANCISCO–Fans of the popular Madden NFL video game by Electronic Arts Inc. can play vintage matchups such as the 1967 Green Bay Packers against the 1971 Dallas Cowboys.
Just don't look for either team's dominant left cornerback: Hall of Famer Herb Adderley, who played for both Super Bowl champions. There is only an anonymous video game figure with Adderley's weight and height displayed at left cornerback on each defence.
That did not sit well with Adderley, so he sued. His class action lawsuit on behalf of more than 2,000 retired players is set to start Monday in federal court, with the retirees accusing the NFL Players Association of cheating them out of millions of dollars in royalties from video games, trading cards and others sports products.
They contend that the union actively sought to cut them out of licensing deals so active players could receive bigger royalty payments. As proof, the retirees point to a 2001 letter from an NFLPA executive telling EA to scramble the images of retired players in Madden NFL, otherwise the company would have to pay them.
Retired players complain that, even though they signed licensing agreements with the NFLPA during a four-year period that ended in February 2007, they have earned little from the union's lucrative contract with EA.
The $35 million (all figures U.S.) annual contract is the union's largest marketing deal, and the lawsuit is the latest salvo in the increasingly rancorous relationship between retirees and a union they say has given them short financial shrift.
Last year, the union reported to the federal government that it took in $49.8 million in marketing revenue and distributed $26.9 million to active players, while keeping the rest for operating expenses.
The union's central position is that the vast majority of retired players are not very marketable and that companies pay only for access to active players or for marquee retired players.
Union trial lawyer Jeffrey Kessler defended the deal. "For many, many retired players, there is no market," he said in an interview.

[Chicago RED]

Good read. They should get there money.

[Patriots Game]

Associated Press

SAN FRANCISCO -- A federal jury on Monday ordered the NFL Players Association to pay $28.1 million to retired players after finding the union failed to properly market their images.

The figure includes $21 million in punitive damages, just short of the $21.9 million award the players' lawyer had asked of the jury to reflect roughly 10 percent of the union's net worth at the start of the year.

A union lawyer had urged the jury to award a far lesser amount so as not to damage the union's ability to represent its members.

Hall of Fame cornerback Herb Adderley filed the lawsuit last year on behalf of 2,056 retired players who contend the union failed to actively pursue marketing deals on their behalf with video games, trading cards and others sports products.

Adderley, 69, played cornerback for the Green Bay Packers and Dallas Cowboys and appeared in four of the first six Super Bowls.

Lawyers representing Adderley and the retired players told the jury during the nearly three-week trial that the union actively sought to cut them out of licensing deals so active players could receive bigger royalty payments. As proof, the retirees pointed to a 2001 letter from an NFLPA executive telling Electronic Arts Inc. executives to scramble the images of retired players in the company's popular "Madden NFL" video game, otherwise the company would have to pay them.

EA's Madden game contains 143 "vintage" teams populated with no-name players that closely resemble Adderley and other retirees yet only active players received a cut of the EA deal, which surpassed $35 million for 2008.

On Monday, the retirees' lawyer, Ronald Katz, urged the jury to punish the union with a large award to "change their conduct."

Katz said longtime union chief Gene Upshaw and his deputy "betrayed the trust of their members" by neglecting the retired players, who pay $50 a year to keep their union membership. Upshaw died of cancer in August.