(13) COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

Lease Commitments

As of March 31, 2014, we leased certain facilities, furniture and equipment under non-cancelable operating lease agreements. We were required to pay property taxes, insurance and normal maintenance costs for certain of these facilities and any increases over the base year of these expenses on the remainder of our facilities.

Development, Celebrity, League and Content Licenses: Payments and Commitments

The products we produce in our studios are designed and created by our employee designers, artists, software programmers and by non-employee software developers (“independent artists” or “third-party developers”). We typically advance development funds to the independent artists and third-party developers during development of our games, usually in installment payments made upon the completion of specified development milestones. Contractually, these payments are generally considered advances against subsequent royalties on the sales of the products. These terms are set forth in written agreements entered into with the independent artists and third-party developers.

In addition, we have certain celebrity, league and content license contracts that contain minimum guarantee payments and marketing commitments that may not be dependent on any deliverables. Celebrities and organizations with whom we have contracts include, but are not limited to: FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association), FIFPRO Foundation, FAPL (Football Association Premier League Limited), and DFL Deutsche Fußball Liga GmbH (German Soccer League) (professional soccer); Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, Ferrari S.p.A. (Need For Speed and Real Racing games); National Basketball Association (professional basketball); PGA TOUR (professional golf); National Hockey League and NHL Players’ Association (professional hockey); National Football League Properties, PLAYERS Inc., and Red Bear Inc. (professional football); Collegiate Licensing Company (collegiate football); Zuffa, LLC (Ultimate Fighting Championship); ESPN (content in EA SPORTS games); Hasbro, Inc. (certain of Hasbro’s board game intellectual properties); Disney Interactive (Star Wars); and Fox Digital Entertainment, Inc. (The Simpsons). These developer and content license commitments represent the sum of (1) the cash payments due under non-royalty-bearing licenses and services agreements and (2) the minimum guaranteed payments and advances against royalties due under royalty-bearing licenses and services agreements, the majority of which are conditional upon performance by the counterparty. These minimum guarantee payments and any related marketing commitments are included in the table below.

The following table summarizes our minimum contractual obligations as of March 31, 2014 (in millions):



			Fiscal Year Ending March 31,
	Total		2015		2016		2017		2018		2019		Thereafter
Unrecognized commitments
Developer/licensor commitments	$	1,301	$	132	$	288	$	212	$	129	$	98	$	442
Marketing commitments	254		48		41		62		24		24		55
Operating leases	148		46		39		23		17		13		10
0.75% Convertible Senior Notes due 2016 interest ^(a)	12		5		5		2		—		—		—
Other purchase obligations	19		17		2		—		—		—		—
Total unrecognized commitments	1,734		248		375		299		170		135		507

Recognized commitments
0.75% Convertible Senior Notes due 2016 principal ^(a)	633		—		—		633		—		—		—
Licensing and lease obligations ^(b)	59		12		11		34		1		1		—
Total recognized commitments	692		12		11		667		1		1		—

Total Commitments	$	2,426	$	260	$	386	$	966	$	171	$	136	$	507

(a)

Included in the $12 million coupon interest on the 0.75% Convertible Senior Notes due 2016 is $1 million of accrued interest recognized as of March 31, 2014. We will be obligated to pay the $632.5 million principal amount of the 0.75% Convertible Senior Notes due 2016 in cash and any excess conversion value in shares of our common stock upon redemption of the Notes at maturity on July 15, 2016 or upon earlier redemption. The $632.5 million principal amount excludes $53 million of unamortized discount of the liability component. See Note 12 for additional information regarding our 0.75% Convertible Senior Notes due 2016.


(b)	See Note 8 for additional information regarding recognized commitments resulting from our restructuring plans. Lease commitments have not been reduced for approximately $6 million due in the future from third parties under non-cancelable sub-leases.

The unrecognized amounts represented in the table above reflect our minimum cash obligations for the respective fiscal years, but do not necessarily represent the periods in which they will be recognized and expensed in our Consolidated Financial Statements. In addition, the amounts in the table above are presented based on the dates the amounts are contractually due as of March 31, 2014; however, certain payment obligations may be accelerated depending on the performance of our operating results.

In addition to what is included in the table above, as of March 31, 2014, we had a liability for unrecognized tax benefits and an accrual for the payment of related interest totaling $188 million, of which we are unable to make a reasonably reliable estimate of when cash settlement with a taxing authority will occur.

Subsequent to March 31, 2014, we entered into or amended various licensor and lease agreements with third parties, which contingently commits us to pay an additional approximately $110 million at various dates through fiscal year 2025.

Also, in addition to what is included in the table above as of March 31, 2014, in connection with our KlickNation and Chillingo acquisitions, we may be required to pay an additional $10 million of cash consideration based upon the achievement of certain performance milestones through March 31, 2015. As of March 31, 2014, we have accrued $4 million of contingent consideration on our Consolidated Balance Sheet representing the estimated fair value of the contingent consideration.

Legal Proceedings

We are a defendant in several actions that allege we misappropriated the likenesses of various college athletes in certain of our college-themed sports games.

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We are defending a putative class action lawsuit brought by Ryan Hart, a former college football player, in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey in June 2009, which alleges that we misappropriated his likeness in our college-themed football game. The complaint seeks actual damages and other unspecified damages, which have not been quantified. In September 2011, the district court granted our motion to dismiss the complaint. On May 21, 2013, the Third Circuit Court of Appeal reversed the district court's decision and remanded the case back to the district court.

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The In re NCAA Student-Athlete Name & Likeness Licensing litigation pending in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California involves two groups of common claims brought by several different former collegiate student-athletes in 2009. These various actions were consolidated into one action in February 2010. The first group of claims is a class action against us, the NCAA and the Collegiate Licensing Company (CLC) alleging that our college-themed video games misappropriated the likenesses of collegiate student-athletes without their authorization. This group of claims seeks actual damages, statutory damages and other unspecified damages, which have not been quantified. On July 31, 2013, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court’s denial of our motion to strike the complaint. The second group of claims is a federal antitrust class action against us, the NCAA and the CLC that challenges NCAA/CLC licensing practices and the NCAA By-Laws and regulations. This group of claims seeks unspecified damages, which have not been quantified.

In September 2013, we reached an agreement to settle all actions brought by college athletes. We and counsel for plaintiffs are in the process of preparing a written settlement agreement and other documents to present to the respective courts for approval of the settlement. We recognized a $30 million accrual during the second quarter of fiscal 2014 associated with the anticipated settlement. On November 4, 2013, the NCAA filed a complaint against the Company and CLC in the Superior Court of Fulton County, Georgia. The complaint seeks unspecified damages and alleges that the Company is contractually obligated to defend and indemnify the NCAA against claims asserted in In re NCAA Student-Athlete Name & Likeness Licensing concerning the alleged misappropriation of student-athletes’ publicity rights in EA’s collegiate video games. We have not yet responded to the NCAA’s complaint.

On December 17, 2013, a purported shareholder class action lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California against the Company and certain of its officers by an individual purporting to represent a class of purchasers of EA common stock. A second purported shareholder class action lawsuit alleging substantially similar claims was subsequently filed in the same court. These lawsuits have been consolidated into one action. The lawsuits, which assert claims under Section 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, allege, among other things, that the Company and certain of its officers issued materially false and misleading statements regarding the rollout of the Company’s Battlefield 4 game. The lawsuits seek unspecified damages, which have not been quantified. We have not yet responded to the complaints.

We are also subject to claims and litigation arising in the ordinary course of business. We do not believe that any liability from any reasonably foreseeable disposition of such claims and litigation, individually or in the aggregate, would have a material adverse effect on our Consolidated Financial Statements.