WASHINGTON — RYAN HART played quarterback for the Rutgers football team from 2002 to 2005. These days, he works in the financial services industry.

But a version of Mr. Hart on the playing field lives on, along with those of thousands of other athletes, in a video game called “NCAA Football.” The game allows players to manipulate the actions of more than 100 college teams in fantasy matchups. An unnamed avatar in the game shares Mr. Hart’s number, height, weight, biography and playing statistics.

Mr. Hart sued the game’s manufacturer, Electronic Arts, saying it should have gotten his permission and paid him a fee. Last month, in a decision that tried to reconcile free speech and commerce, a divided three-judge panel of the federal appeals court in Philadelphia said the company had violated Mr. Hart’s right to control the commercial use of his image — his “right of publicity.”

“There’s a lot at stake here, and a lot in play,” said Mr. Hart’s lawyer, Timothy J. McIlwain, who is asking that the case be treated as a class action. Mr. McIlwain said economists have told him that his clients may be entitled to billions of dollars in damages.