EA signs a 5 year exclusive deal with NFL

[TheBigSwigg 0]

I'm really going to miss my ESPN Football next year. How similar is Madden to it?

as similar as Bush and Kerry political beliefs.

that's really confusing.

[Jobber of the Week 0]

Last week, Electronic Arts, the NFL, and Players Inc. sent shockwaves throughout the gaming industry as they announced an unprecedented five-year exclusivity partnership. But it looks like Electronic Arts had even bigger plans as they also bid on exclusive arrangements with the NBA. Sources have told me, however, that the NBA has rejected EA's initial offer.

 

One of the reasons is that the NBA Live series simply doesn't have a stranglehold on the market the way Madden has for years, so by signing an exclusive deal with EA, the NBA would actually be losing money. There are simply too many NBA video game properties that sell big units for the deal to make sense, from the ESPN NBA series to NBA Ballers to 989's games that are set to hit both the PS2 and PSP.

 

http://sports.ign.com/articles/574/574539p1.html

[Mole 0]

I said as much because the reasons for the EA hatred were clearly laid out in the wikipedia link I posted in that thread, criticisms repeated on these boards and others many times over, yet you still can't grasp any of it and pass it off as though it were some childish anti-whatever mob mentality, which is pretty much the lowest form of defense and reasoning there can be.

 

Stick to Buffy and MTV, please.

You forgot LOST.

[AndrewTS 0]

About the EA employees' lawsuit:

 

http://www.gamespot.com/news/2004/11/11/news_6112998.html

[BX 0]

Has anyone thought of starting a project to update ESPN 25k's roster for the 2005-06 season? It would take a while, but at least we wouldn't be forced to buy Madden '06.

[Lightning Flik 0]

About the EA employees' lawsuit:

 

http://www.gamespot.com/news/2004/11/11/news_6112998.html

I've got a feeling EA's gonna lose that case.

 

As for the deal, this is just nuts. You don't get any diversity in football games for 5 years. I hope there's a clause for the NFL to back out of the agreement, cause I really think these games are going to be absolute shit.

 

Sadly, I bet EA will do the same thing with the NHL series once it gets back on track and sadly, Bettman would take the damn deal. We might get screwed out of alot of games soon.

[AndrewTS 0]

About the EA employees' lawsuit:

 

http://www.gamespot.com/news/2004/11/11/news_6112998.html

I've got a feeling EA's gonna lose that case.

 

As for the deal, this is just nuts. You don't get any diversity in football games for 5 years. I hope there's a clause for the NFL to back out of the agreement, cause I really think these games are going to be absolute shit.

 

Sadly, I bet EA will do the same thing with the NHL series once it gets back on track and sadly, Bettman would take the damn deal. We might get screwed out of alot of games soon.

Any diversity in *NFL* games. Other companies can make football games, they just have to get around the license somehow.

 

As I mentioned before, you could anything from an outrageous fantasy setting to something Tecmo Bowlish--perhaps real numbers and team colors, but no official logos or team names.

 

i.e. Pittsburgh, Baltimore, and so on. "This product is neither endorsed nor affiliated with the National Football League."

 

Is the NHL even worth it for EA? NBA and NFL, sure...but I don't think of the NHL being anywhere near as popular except in Canada perhaps.

[Lightning Flik 0]

Is the NHL even worth it for EA? NBA and NFL, sure...but I don't think of the NHL being anywhere near as popular except in Canada perhaps.

Might not be as big, but we can get the same screwdom out of this for nearly any and all sports. I really do hate EA a lot.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Does the agreement cover the NFL, or just the NFLPA? I could easily see Sega making a game, and just assigning numbers instead of player names. Heck, Madden did that for most of the Genesis years. Or, some developer could always try a historical sports game. When Tony LaRussa Baseball came out, they used retired players instead of active players. A game like that with legendary NFL players could be fun.

[Angel_Grace_Blue 0]

That's a good idea, but I wonder how they'd handle stuff like Colts/Ravens and Texans/Titans. And who'd make the legendary Cardinals team?

 

They could just use the logos from the Create-a-Team, I suppose.

 

I liked what they did last year with guys from Virtua Fighter as players. Have Sega characters playing football. Sonic at halfback, yo.

[Zetterberg is God 0]

Does the agreement cover the NFL, or just the NFLPA?

The deal covers everything, teams and players included.

[Skywarp! 0]

Maybe someone can convince Nintendo to go multi-platform for the first time in history by bringing back Playaction Football.

 

Run diagonally!

 

 

 

And the back of the photoshopped Madden box...at the bottom it talks about how they're allowed to end online service "30 days after announcing it on www.electronicarts.com or 30 days after the last game of the 2004-2005 NFL season." Was that part of the photoshopped part, or just shiver-inducing truth?

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

And the back of the photoshopped Madden box...at the bottom it talks about how they're allowed to end online service "30 days after announcing it on www.electronicarts.com or 30 days after the last game of the 2004-2005 NFL season." Was that part of the photoshopped part, or just shiver-inducing truth?

 

Sega/ESPN sports games carry similar disclaimers. I think they're common for online games.

[AndrewTS 0]

And the back of the photoshopped Madden box...at the bottom it talks about how they're allowed to end online service "30 days after announcing it on www.electronicarts.com or 30 days after the last game of the 2004-2005 NFL season." Was that part of the photoshopped part, or just shiver-inducing truth?

 

Sega/ESPN sports games carry similar disclaimers. I think they're common for online games.

Pretty much, yeah. It's not that uncommon. I think that constitutes part of a "shrink wrap agreement"--if you have a problem with the agreement, don't open the game.

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

SEGA Wont be doing an Arena Football League Game either..

 

January 10, 2005 – The Arena Football League and Electronic Arts  have entered into an exclusive agreement to produce an AFL video game in time for the start of the 2006 AFL season that also allows EA to share in the proceeds of future expansion team sales. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

[Lightning Flik 0]

SEGA Wont be doing an Arena Football League Game either..

 

January 10, 2005 – The Arena Football League and Electronic Arts  have entered into an exclusive agreement to produce an AFL video game in time for the start of the 2006 AFL season that also allows EA to share in the proceeds of future expansion team sales. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

So basically, Sega has only the CFL? Aw nutters...