EA settles $27 million Madden lawsuit

Banned from renewing exclusive NCAA agreement, must compensate consumers.

EA has settled a class action lawsuit alleging that EA Sports' exclusive rights to the NFL license constituted an illegal monopoly.

The original agreements cast EA the exclusive licensing rights to use teams, players and other assets from the National Football League (NFL), the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), and the Arena Football League (AFL).

However, under the terms of the proposed settlement (as reported by Kotaku), EA must compensate consumers who have purchased a Madden title between 2005 and today.

Don't expect too much in the way of compensation, though. Customers who purchased a Madden title on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 or Wii are allegedly entitled up to $1.95, or up to $6.79 if they bought a copy on PS2, GameCube or Xbox.

EA must set aside a $27 million fund to compensate consumers.

The firm has also been banned from signing an exclusive licensing agreement with the AFL for five years, and cannot renew its agreement with the NCAA for a further five years once it expires in 2014.

The settlement is still awaiting approval from the United States District Court.