Ea Secures Exclusive Rights To Nfl Video Games.

juniorspank

Jan 6 2005, 04:39 AM

Just when you thought ESPN Videogames was catching up, in one move, they've never been farther behind. Electronic Arts announced today an exclusive licensing agreement with the National Football League and Players Inc. to develop, publish, and distribute interactive football games. These agreements give EA the exclusive rights to the NFL teams, stadiums, and players for use in its football video games for the next five years.

You read that right…exclusive rights to the NFL teams, stadiums, and players.

Meaning no ESPN NFL 2K6, no more NFL GameDay, and bye-bye NFL Blitz. All football fans will be left with are Madden, NFL Street, and a new unannounced football management game that is in the works from, you guessed it, EA Sports.

"All of our data shows that there is a huge market for manager-style games," said Jeff Brown, Director of Corporate Communications for Electronic Arts, "and you could see a new type of football game from EA."

The agreement also provides the opportunity for new games and for EA to access both NFL Films and the NFL Network for use in the games.

"We are pleased to expand our agreement with Electronic Arts, the leading video game manufacturer and a valued NFL partner," said NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue. "We look forward to working with EA to continue to enhance the quality of NFL video games that our fans have enjoyed for many years."

"For more than a decade, EA has produced the most authentic football product for fans of the game" said Players Inc. Chairman Gene Upshaw. "This exclusive relationship will maximize the value of NFL players through EA's continued commitment to bring fans closer to the game."

"We are excited about the opportunity to further enhance our relationship with the NFL and Players Inc." said Larry Probst, Chairman and CEO of Electronic Arts. "The five-year agreements will usher NFL fans through the console technology transition with new ideas and innovative game play experiences."

The agreement covers consoles, PC, and handheld systems, as well as console online features. The agreement does not include other games available on the Internet or wireless devices, including cellular phones.

"We (EA) have proposed exclusivity several times in the past, but this year, in the spring the NFL had an off-site meeting, and they decided to consider bids for exclusivity," Brown told IGN in an exclusive interview. "Several bids were submitted but they accepted EA's. I cannot tell you how much this cost, but exclusivity is expensive, we are paying a premium. It wasn't cheap. I can tell you this, though, all parties all happy with this agreement, and Wall Street seems happy with it too."

Brown continued: "Look at what else EA has done, look at FIFA, PGA Golf Tour and NASCAR, we have exclusivity rights for all those licenses as well."

"The reason that you're noticing a certain vagueness to the language in the press release is because the license deals do not include smaller games such as Atari's Backyard Football; it's not subject to this agreement due to their numbers. And any wireless game or cell phone game is not part of the deal either."

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Npgamers

Jan 21 2005, 02:29 AM

EA Sports and ESPN have just teamed up to a 5 year deal a believe. I'm not sure about that , but i read something about it on Gamespot.com. Yea, i though ESPN NFL games were catching up with the low price, but now that EA Sports bought exclusive rights to the NFL, I am no longer sure what will happen.

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amusedtoe

Feb 7 2005, 11:21 AM

This is just really lame. EA was beat and they knew it , why they dropped their games prices, so they just went and eliminated the competition. I really prefered the SEGA games and now that there's no competition, EA also owns the rights to Arena Football, NFL Europe, and something else I'm forgetting, the quality of the EA games will start to stagnate fairly soon probably. Not only that but now SEGA's sold Visual Concepts, the 2K series developer since the start, and the 2K brand to Take-Two and are out of the sports game. To top things off EA's even swayed ESPN from the 2K camp and now have a 15 year contract with EA.

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anjang86

Feb 20 2005, 03:59 AM

I never thought that EA was beat at all. I bought ESPN the day it came out and it wasn't worth the money (even though it wasa $20). I think that game hit my PS2 about three times then I just gave it to my friend.

However, I really don't like the partnership here. EA Sports can just slack off all they want to now and this is an obvious monopoly.

Have you guys heard however of the new football game coming out later this year called "Blitz Playmakers"? It's a Blitz style game based on that ESPN mini-series Playmakers. Should be good. Very smart move by Midway because they don't need any real player names for this game since its based off of TV.

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lostprophet

Feb 20 2005, 03:09 PM

I'm not to sad what has happened. I played 2k5 and didnt like it. I play Madden alot more, probably becuase I'm more used to everything concerning that game.

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Sean_Paul23

Jul 13 2005, 06:46 PM

I love EA! but this is a dirty move. It is better for buisness, but its a sure bet that the games will evolve much slower. Competition is what keeps new and innovative ideas flowing. Just look at Microsoft Windows, the only time Microsoft does anything new is when there is pressure from another company.
This is a bummer for gamers, but i'm happy for EA.

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AzNxSuperNova

Jul 13 2005, 07:05 PM

I feel the same way that everyone else does. EA Sports had control of the market just because of who they are and the quality of the games they produced. But by buying the exclusive rights to the NFL, it leads to some serious questions as to why they needed to. If it was to eliminate the competition then it'll reflect negatively on the image that they're portraying for the EA Sports brand and its the brand that sells in my opinion.

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BlackWolfX

Jul 18 2005, 05:39 PM

I will admit that this was a dirty move by EA because I personally felt that ESPN was going to catch up with them in the quality of their games and EA in a smart, strategic, albeit low down sneaky plan still preserved their company and money. So to them I say kudos for a brilliant plan.

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matrixlover

Aug 1 2005, 03:55 PM

That was a very dirty and low move made by EA. I think that was stupid, I mean if you can't beat the opposition then why make the games. Ironically I happen to love the Madden series lol.

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