NFLPA settles Madden suit for $26 million

As one Madden-related legal dispute heats up, another is cooling down. Last week, a Northern California judge denied Madden NFL publisher EA's motion to dismiss a class-action suit that alleges that the publisher engages in "blatantly anticompetitive conduct" with its annualized sports simulation. Now, the Associated Press reports that a group of retired players has reached a $26 million settlement with the NFL Players Union over their names and likenesses appearing in those games.

In November 2008, a jury awarded the 2,000-player-plus group $28.1 million in damages stemming from the NFLPA's failure to keep the retired players' interests at heart in negotiating royalty rates for the use of the players' personas. The complaint covered games, trading cards, and other football-related products and specifically called out the NFLPA's alleged preferential treatment given to EA.

In April, former Cleveland Browns halfback Bernie Parrish issued bellicose statements in relation to the suit, promising to extend litigation to target EA and John Madden as well. At the time, Parrish also expressed disappointment at the court's original $28.1 million judgment, saying, "Irregularities in the trial may even bring about a retrial that will allow the award to be in the $100 million-plus range."