Gaming company juggernaut, EA, has had its fair share of problems in the past. Recently, however, their issues have seemed to spiral out of control. A suit being brought against not only EA, but the NFLPA (National Football Players Associations) by retired football players alleges that not only are they due money from Electronic Arts for using their likenesses and career stats, but also because their own union brokered a below-market deal as a favor, helping it secure exclusive NFL rights for the Madden franchise.

Former safety for the Buffalo Bills from 1970 to 1984, Jeff Nixon, has written an open letter to John Madden that he claims brings light to certain dealings that went on between EA and an NFLPA union official. The alleged arrangements include EA scrambling the likenesses of players and jersey numbers to keep from having to pay the retired players, while retaining their same height, weight, years of service, and performance characteristics.

Nixon's letter says: "When a substantial competitor to EA [Take-Two] began to emerge for use of retired players, EA and Defendants rushed to enter into a contract locking up the most valuable retired players' rights in exchange for payments that were admittedly below market. [NFL Players Inc]'s Senior Vice-President, Clay Walker, admitted as much in the following email:

"Take Two [the EA competitor] went after retired players to create an "NFL" style video game after we gave the exclusive to EA. I was able to forge this deal with [the Pro Football Hall of Fame] that provides them with $400K per year (which is significantly below market rate) in exchange for the HOF player rights. EA owes me a huge favor because that threat was enough to persuade Take Two to back off its plans, leaving EA as the only professional football videogame manufacturer out there. "

In an even more damaging fashion, Ars Technica revealed another e-mail found by the suit:

"An e-mail sent November 1, 2007, is equally plain in its language. Andrew Feffer, executive vice president and chief operating officer of the NFLPA wrote to EA Sports' representative Paul Cairns that "Clay and Joe's negotiation of these discounted terms was a significant contribution to EA as you more than likely would have paid in excess of $1 million for these rights without their involvement and assistance." In other words, you saved a cool million because you had people negotiating who weren't hoping to strike the best deal for the players."

Nixon's letter also claims that the following is from LaShun Lawson, the VP of multimedia for NFL Players, Inc., to EA producer Jeremy Strauser:

"For all retired players that are not listed... their identity must be altered so that it cannot be recognized. Regarding paragraph 2 of the License Agreement between Electronic Arts and Players Inc, a player's identity is defined as his name, likeness (including without limitation, number), picture, photograph, voice, facsimile signature and/or biographical information. Hence, any and all players not listed... cannot be represented in Madden 2002 with the number that player actually wore, and must be scrambled."

As if EA needed more trouble, the accusations that they are becoming a "monopoly" seem to be piling up rapidly. The trial is said to begin next month in San Francisco, California.