Court Extends Claims Period for EA Football Pricing Settlement

Notice today was sent out that the claims period for the class action settlement in regards to the pricing of football products has now been extended to May 15. The original cut-off was March 5 but is now being pushed out due to a lower than anticipated number of claims having been made. Those who have already filed do not need to do anything new because of this. The difference will be a much higher dollar amount in return than was previously documented. 

The payouts will be as follows for every Madden NFL, NCAA Football, or Arena Football copy purchased between 2005 and 2012:

•$20.37 for PS2/Xbox/Gamecube up to a total of 8 copies with $162.96 the max.
•$5.85 for PS3/Xbox 360/Wii up to a total of 8 copies with $46.80 the max.

That is up from $6.79 ($54.32) for the older generation and $1.95 ($15.60) for the current gen.

The case website includes the form to fill out online, which can be done using the claim ID in the emails or postcards that have been sent to everyone who has had information on file while any others can submit an unknown claim. The information can also be mailed in. The online claim form is completed here while the one that can be printed out and mailed is here.

The lawsuit, filed in 2008, alleged that holding exclusive licenses for the major sports leagues allowed EA Sports to raise the price of the games due to the absence of competition. The settlement involved the company paying $27 million and agreeing not to hold an exclusive with the NCAA or Arena Football for a period of five years.