NCAA Settles Sam Keller Video Game Suit for $20 Million

The N.C.A.A. is facing a series of legal challenges, with one seeking pay for players for the use of their likenesses in video games and another aimed at tearing down the model of amateurism in college sports.

On Monday morning, the N.C.A.A. said that it had reached a settlement to pay $20 million to current and former college athletes to bring to a close the video games case originally filed by a former Arizona State and Nebraska quarterback, Sam Keller. The announcement came as the other lawsuit, known as the Ed O'Bannon lawsuit, was beginning its long-awaited trial in federal court.

The resolution of the Keller case, if approved by the judge, would mark a turning point for the N.C.A.A., as it confronts a growing group of critics who believe that football players and men's college basketball players should get a larger share of the increasing revenues from big-time college sports.

The NC.A.A. long had had rules in place that bar athletes from being compensated, beyond their scholarships. Donald Remy, the N.C.A.A.'s chief legal officer, said that the settlement should not be equated to pay for performance. 'In no event do we consider this settlement pay for athletics performance,' Remy said.

The players who would most likely receive payments would be men's basketball and football players who were on the rosters of certain teams when the video games were sold. That could include a number of current players, but the N.C.A.A. said there would be a 'blanket eligibility' waiver, so the players and their colleges would not be punished for receiving payments.

'This is the first time in the history of the N.C.A.A. that the organization is paying student-athletes for rights related to their play on the field, compensating them for their contribution to the profit-making nature of college sports,' said Steve Berman, of Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP, the lead lawyer for the players in the case. 'We've long held through our various cases against the N.C.A.A. that the student-athlete is treated poorly in everything from scholarships to safety. This settlement is a step toward equity and fairness for them.'

The N.C.A.A. noted that the video games involved in the case - made by EA Sports - have been discontinued, making it 'an appropriate opportunity to provide complete closure' to the case.

The Keller case has been linked with the O'Bannon case, a class-action suit, which began what is expected to be a three-week trial in Oakland, Calif., Monday.

In that case, the plaintiffs are not seeking payment - but are asking the judge to prohibit the N.C.A.A. from continuing to have rules that bar college athletes from being compensated for the use of their names, images and likenesses in broadcasts or video games.

The N.C.A.A. has defended itself vigorously in the case, which challenges its core principles of amateurism.

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