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NFL players can track and sell their own health data
Professional athletes know that it's not just the matches and training sessions that matter: it's what you do in your downtime too. Whoop's wearable straps specialise in this area, tracking your movement, heart rate, and ambient temperature to better understand your health and recovery rate. Now, it's being adopted by the National Football League Players Association (NFLPA), which means straps will be handed out to every current and incoming player in the US. Whether they'll wear them is a mystery, but the hope is that they'll be used to track and optimize their training schedules, reducing injuries and improving in-game performance.
Harvard researchers built a health app for former NFL players
Since 2014, Harvard University has been running the Football Players Health Study, a program that examines the well-being of former NFL athletes as they leave the game behind. Now, as part of its ongoing research, the Ivy League college developed an app called TeamStudy, which uses simple physical activities, surveys and sensor data from an iPhone to learn more about the state of a player's health. The collected data comes together in one place thanks to Apple's ResearchKit, and Harvard researches say ex-NFL players helped design the iOS application, as they wanted it to focus on important issues including balance, memory, mobility and pain, to mention a few.
NFL Players Association contest rewards mobile dev with license this season
In the world of professional sports licensing, one of the more widely maligned situations is the exclusive NFL license held by Electronic Arts for home console games. That's just one aspect of sports licensing, as organizations that stand as players unions are also able to license out the images and likenesses of athletes within the union, and that's what the NFL Player's Association (NFLPA) is doing in a new contest. From March 20 through April 20, NFL Players Inc, the licensing and marketing branch of the NFLPA, is accepting entries from both independent developers and established studios to determine the "next big thing in mobile gaming." The pro football players union will select three finalists, each given the opportunity to pitch their game idea to the NFL Players Inc (NFLPI) executive board. The winner will be granted the NFLPA license for the 2014-2015 NFL season for use on mobile devices, though the announcement does not indicate that the license is on an exclusive basis. The license covers NFLPI trademarks and the "names, likenesses, uniform numbers, photographs, voices, replica signatures, and biographical information of active NFL players." Of course, without the separate NFL license, developers won't be able to include team names and logos in their games. Additionally, NFL Players Inc will put forth $10,000 to market the winning entry via its "Activate" promotion platform, which streamlines the endorsement process for athletes on social media. Those interested in entering the contest can fill out the submission form (PDF) on the NFLPA's website. [Image: NFL Players Association]
Report: EA and NFL restructure exclusivity deal amid work stoppage fears
The NFL has cut EA a break, reports SportsBusiness Journal, reducing the Madden maker's licensing fee by an undisclosed amount for the next football season, which remains in jeopardy as the current collective bargaining agreement between the league and the players' union is set to expire March 4 and, so far, renegotiations have been futile. If a new CBA is not drawn between the two sides before the current contract expires, it could result in a work stoppage -- in other words, no football come fall. While such an outcome wouldn't prevent EA from releasing Madden 12 in early August (the series' traditional launch window leading up to the start of the NFL regular season), it could certainly devalue the expensive NFL-related licenses that EA has secured. Last October, anticipating such a scenario, EA reportedly requested a $30 million dollar discount on its payment owed to the NFL this year. The five-year deal inked in 2008 between the two sides is believed to be worth "well into nine figures" -- that's hundreds of millions -- and is likely the NFL's most lucrative non-TV contract, according to SBJ. "For one of our core partners in a difficult environment, we say let's look at this, and maybe it makes some sense to extend something out longer and give our partner some relief in the short term, but gain something on the back end," Jacksonville Jaguars owner Wayne Weaver, chairman of the NFL's business ventures committee, told SBJ, alluding to the nature of the restructured deal with EA. According to SBJ's sources, EA has been granted some form of relief for this year's fees, and its NFL exclusivity deal has been extended one year through the 2013-14 football season. EA maintains a separate, concurrent contract with the NFL Players Association for which the players' union receives $30–40 million, annually (according to the union's Labor Department filings), for the publisher's right to use NFL players in its games. It's as yet unknown if EA has sought to reduce its fees owed to the union this year or extend the deal another year to remain consistent with the companion contract with the league. EA declined our request to comment on its NFL-related licensing agreements for this article.
EA looking to add Michael Vick to Madden 10 on August 19
Earlier today, Kotaku reported everyone's favorite animal lover (sarcasm, ahoy!) could make his way into Madden 10 via an update. See, yesterday he signed with the Philadelphia Eagles, cementing his return to the NFL. But, since Madden 10 already shipped, many wondered if he would even be in the game. Enter: Rob Semsey, EA's resident dude to pass all Madden questions to, who told Kotaku that EA was trying to get him into the game and promised "an announcement in the near future." But, see, here at Joystiq, that doesn't cut the mustard, so we grilled Semsey for something more. He had this to say: "Michael Vick will be added to the Philadelphia Eagles roster in the next Madden NFL 10 roster update, pending NFLPA and NFL approvals. The next roster update will go live approximately on August 19th for Xbox 360 and PS3, with additional platforms to follow shortly thereafter." So, yes, he'll even make his way to the Wii game and, in all likelihood, we could all see Vick sporting some green as early as this Wednesday.
Report: Retired NFL players planning to sue EA and Madden for royalties
A story on GamePolitics recently pointed our attention to the blog of NFL retiree Dave Pear, where fellow former football player Bernie Parrish announced that a number of retired NFL players are planning to sue Electronic Arts and John Madden for using their likenesses in a number of Madden titles without paying them any royalties.If this story sounds familiar, it's because the same group of 2,062 retirees filed a similar suit against the NFL Players Association last fall, ultimately receiving $28 million in damages. Parrish is asking each of the players involved in last year's lawsuit to put $1,000 of their respective settlements into a "litigation War Chest" with which to seek legal action against the publishing juggernaut and the recently retired commentator, who reportedly "collected over $100,000,000 in royalties while paying the retired NFL players used in those games absolutely nothing."
EA dished out $35 million to NFL Players' Union in 2007
With the drama surrounding EA and the NFLPA right now, all kinds of dirty laundry is being pulled out from the bottom of the pile and paraded to one and all. Enter former Oakland Raiders defensive tackle Dave Pear, who has posted the NFLPA's 2007 LM-2, a report required by the U.S. Department of Labor that lists the money EA payed out to the NFLPA.It's best to keep in mind that this figure is for the NFL Players' Association alone, and does not include money EA had to shell out to the league for licensing stadiums, team names, logos, uniforms, etc. If we were to see how much EA paid the league for those things, it would probably be much larger than the $35 million the NFLPA received.[Via GamePolitics]
NFL to pay $28 million to retired players in Madden royalty dispute
Here's the deal: John Elway is relaxing at home, enjoying a cold glass of iced tea, perhaps watching clips of his glory days. His son Jack comes into the room and asks if he can play his Madden football game, because the Elways only have one huge TV for the whole family to share. John allows it, anxious to check out what his child is into these days, and little Jack loads up the game and picks an all-star team, with his daddy as Quarterback. John Elway sees himself in the game, but doesn't remember getting a royalties check and flips out. Well, John, no need to worry. You're going to get yourself some money now.2,062 former NFL players filed a lawsuit over royalties for in-game likenesses recently, and Judge William Alsup upheld a jury's decision to pay these players upwards of $28 million after an appeal had been filed. This money will be coming directly from the NFL Players' Association, which violated the terms of group licensing agreements. With the NFL being worth quite a bit, it may seem like a drop in the bucket, but we're talking about a significant chunk of change here.See also: LGJ: Mo' Madden Madness[Via GI.biz]
NFL retirees awarded $28m in Madden suit, appeal pending
Score one for the old guys! A U.S. District Court jury in San Francisco has ruled in favor of a group of retired NFL players who filed a class-action lawsuit against the National Football League Players Association for the underhanded use of their likenesses in various Madden games. Basically, the guys were owed some dues, and the jury set the outstanding tab at $28 million ... or, split 2,062 ways, $13,000 per former player. Not surprisingly, the defense called the ruling "unjust as a matter of law" and will no doubt appeal the decision, despite some pretty scummy emails penned by NFLPA execs out on the evidence table; look no further than: "their identity must be altered so that it cannot be recognized" [NFLPA exec LaShun Lawson to Madden producer Jeremy Strauser].A joyful and teary-eyed Herb Adderley told the L.A. Times, "If you look at the 1967 Green Bay Packers in [Madden], you'll know that the only left cornerback that year had to be Herb Adderley, but they scrambled my face and took the number off of my jersey. Yet, they had my correct height, weight and years of experience."
