os!

ign confirmed it. http://sports.ign.com/articles/572/572886p1.html
the big kicker being that Ea is already rumored to do the same with mlb and the nba.

Only Game in Town
EA secures exclusive rights to NFL video games.
December 13, 2004 - 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."

Also not part of the deal are, obviously, non-licensed football games. The first company to come forward to IGN with such a game is Midway, makers of classic sports titles like NFL Blitz and NBA Jam.

Midway has hired the writer of the show "Playmakers" to develop a new title, Blitz: Playmakers. The game will feature everything the NFL hated about the TV show, including drug use, and off-the-field habits the NFL likes to pretend never happens.

According to an interview earlier this year with Street & Smith's Sports Business Journal, an NFL spokesperson confirmed that they were through working with Midway: "Midway has been quietly dropped in a 'mutual decision' as an NFL video game licensee after years of controversy over the level of violence in its NFL Blitz game."

When IGN contacted Midway about the rumored Blitz: Playmakers, a spokesperson confirmed the game's existence and told us: "Enough of the 'No Fun League'�it's now time to talk about and prepare for the game the NFL wouldn't let anyone make�Blitz the way it should be played."


The first image of Blitz: Playmakers.



Whether or not ESPN, 989, and Microsoft follow Midway's lead and develop football games without the license remains to be seen.

On a scarier note for these same publishers, rumors are already circulating that EA is attempting to negotiate similar deals with the NBA and Major League Baseball. When IGN contacted Trudy Muller, spokesperson for Electronic Arts about these rumors, she told us: "We cannot speculate at this time about any further plans these other leagues may have."

An ominous sign for sports game publishers everywhere to say the least.

Check back to IGN Sports for the latest on this genre-shattering deal.
-- Jon Robinson and Doug Perry
Media Page"

I'm a huge EA Sports fan. I have all 12 of their 2004 games, and the current 8 games of 2005 (for PS2). I'm not too sure if I'm happy about this announcement though. It doesn't seem fair. And it's kind of ironic that EA Sports makes sports video games which are filled with competition, yet they seem to be killing the competition around them. I'm still gonna buy their games though, because I would've anyway. I wonder if anyone's gonna buy ESPN (Sega) games if the QB for the New England Pioneers is Tim Grady.

Wow, that is shocking. Did anyone read the article in the NewYork Times about EA? I guess that their employess work 80 hour weeks but their payment system doen't allow for overtime, so the employees only get paid for 40 hours a week. I dont play many sports games but many of my friends do. I hope there is some sort of backlash against EA for these actions, In one move they eliminated almost any chance at competetion. This is not only bad for other companies, but its bad for gamers. Without competition there is no drive for EA to make the best sports game possible since theirs is the only choice, I guess the the next five years will be fairly bleak for the sports gaming industry.

EA is the gaming industry's Microsoft imo.

Can you feel an anti-trust action coming on?

I hope they do get anti-trusted all to hell, that's just messed up. No more Blitz, no more ESPN... that's frickin nuts.

they're not doing anything illegal, and I'd be very surprised if they're found guilty of any sort of anti-trust/competition laws.

the NFL has the right to sell exclusive rights like that. as does any other sports organization. EA would only be guilty of violating anti-trust laws if they somehow prevented other companies from jumping in on say, football games in general.

is it really that big of a deal though? if other companies develop the same games, but you don't get to play as your favorite teams or players, is it going to be less of a game?

oh. and I doubt they could protect copyrights on a player. so I'm guessing you could still have "BIG NAME FOOTBALL PLAYERS" but just on imaginary teams in imaginary stadiums. =)

is it really that big of a deal though? if other companies develop the same games, but you don't get to play as your favorite teams or players, is it going to be less of a game?

Yes.

A generic football gamer is a fan of the NFL. They like to see their favorite teams and stadiums and players. If they can't see these then they will not buy the game. My point being, no matter how good the gameplay of the game is, if it doesn't have liscensed stuff, it's not going to sell for shit, and game companies are not going to make it. So all we are going to have in the way of football games is EA games.

As much as I oppose this deal, it's not EA's fault. The NFL offered companies to bid for licensing and EA outbid everyone. If you want to blame someone, blame the NFL.

they're not doing anything illegal, and I'd be very surprised if they're found guilty of any sort of anti-trust/competition laws.

the NFL has the right to sell exclusive rights like that. as does any other sports organization. EA would only be guilty of violating anti-trust laws if they somehow prevented other companies from jumping in on say, football games in general.

Yeah. Also, EA already has the PGA and Nascar exclusive licenses. Those aren't as big as the NFL though, and unlike football, aren't so dependent on licenses.


As much as I oppose this deal, it's not EA's fault. The NFL offered companies to bid for licensing and EA outbid everyone. If you want to blame someone, blame the NFL.

EA has been going for it for a while. This was just the first time the NFL entertained the notion. Not sure where blame comes into it, really. No matter what the scenario, EA wanted an exclusive deal and the NFL was fine with it. What Milkman said is probably the truth, and any non NFL football game is probably doomed. I'm guessing other companies will focus on NCAA now, if they're doing anything.

I'm a huge EA Sports fan. I have all 12 of their 2004 games, and the current 8 games of 2005 (for PS2).

Dear God you are retarded.

I thought EA already had all licenses anyways.

Why am I retarded? Because I have a bunch of games that you might not like? At least I understand what this new deal is all about, so who's really retarded here? This isn't brain surgery, but I'll explain it to you and I'll try not to use big words... They always had real players/teams/stadiums, but so did other companies such as ESPN (Sega). This deal makes EA the only company that will be allowed to use real players/teams/stadiums in a game (for the NFL).

I like sports games. This makes my soul hurt. It's like major league baseball now small time devoplers are like the Milwaukee Brewers and can never be succesful. :-(

Why am I retarded? Because I have a bunch of games that you might not like? At least I understand what this new deal is all about, so who's really retarded here? This isn't brain surgery, but I'll explain it to you and I'll try not to use big words... They always had real players/teams/stadiums, but so did other companies such as ESPN (Sega). This deal makes EA the only company that will be allowed to use real players/teams/stadiums in a game (for the NFL).

Fucking genius imo.

You sure showed him.

Damn right!

OWNAGE!

Damn right!

OWNAGE!

If you weren't so damn intelligent, I would try to use sarcasm to insult you.

Seriously, I would.

But I wont.

Cos ur smart.

You're right, I am smart; and so are you for knowing that I am smart.

Note: I know you weren't being sarcastic because there was no reason for you to be. Charlemagne made a useless post. He called me retarded because I buy a bunch of games, yet he doesn't even understand the simplicity of the deal between the NFL and EA. Had you been sarcastic when calling me a genius, that would mean that you found nothing wrong with his post, making you as retarded as he is, which you aren't, right? No, of course not.

Where exactly are you getting that he doesn't know what the lisences mean?

Dear God you are retarded.

I thought EA already had all licenses anyways.


That's where I got it from.

Why am I retarded? Because I have a bunch of games that you might not like?

I'll tell you why you are retarded. Firstly, it's your cocksure, self-assured attitude. Actually, it's more than that. Or less. Depends on how you look at it. You are far too preoccupied with informing everyone of their poor debating skills/your utter dominance. To compund this, your points are usually the argumentative equivalent of being gagged with a wet tissue, and you end up looking pretty silly. Maybe not to Anubis, but to everyone else, certainly.

Secondly : EA IS SATAN. They have a formal policy of hiring young, naive people who are willing to work long hours for low pay (http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/21/business/yourmoney/21digi.html?ex=1258693200&en=40a60cc6d7971ab2&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland). They use their overbearing economic presence to grab licences left right and centre and just re-release the same old rubbish year after year. This is particularly prevalent in regards to their sports games. An aesthetic brush up, a new endorsement, a new theme tune, watch the money roll in and the industry stagnate. Every year, on the dot. What kind of imagination can have gone into a game that blesses us all with its next iteration like clockwork? One would assume it would be better ot take two years and create a highly optimised game than rehashing the same old rubbish year after year. From a gameplay perspective, of course. Not when it comes to the coffers. And sure, that's EA's job - to make money. But as far as I am concerned it is a giant puss-filled wart on the large hairy ass of the games industry. It treats its employees like shit, takes licences away from companies who deserve them far more, from companies who are critically acclaimed as far superior, and is a creative money-sucking hole smack dab in the middle of the games industry. I cannot fathom why anybody would buy one of their games, let alone twelve. I thoroughly advise you to try some alternative remedies before going the EA route. You may well save yourself (well, daddy, I am presuming) some money, or at least get more bang for your buck.

WINNING ELEVEN FOREVER!

Of course it's all just opinion.

Of course.


At least I understand what this new deal is all about, so who's really retarded here? This isn't brain surgery, but I'll explain it to you and I'll try not to use big words... They always had real players/teams/stadiums, but so did other companies such as ESPN (Sega). This deal makes EA the only company that will be allowed to use real players/teams/stadiums in a game (for the NFL).

Thanks for explaining it to me in a language I understand - because I am slow!. No need to fear, this reinforces everyones belief in your beyond impressive intellect. If brain size was penis, you have Ron Jeremy'd me upside the ... Howard Stern?

Also the above argument applied mostly to EA Sports and not EA, since EA has the odd half-decent game. But they still release mostly shit.

I'm a huge EA Sports fan. I have all 12 of their 2004 games, and the current 8 games of 2005 (for PS2). I'm not too sure if I'm happy about this announcement though. It doesn't seem fair. And it's kind of ironic that EA Sports makes sports video games which are filled with competition, yet they seem to be killing the competition around them. I'm still gonna buy their games though, because I would've anyway. I wonder if anyone's gonna buy ESPN (Sega) games if the QB for the New England Pioneers is Tim Grady.

Where in that (my first post here) am I informing everyone of their poor debating skills? Of course I'm gonna attack you for attacking me unrightfully. As for the whole licensing deal, as I said, I'm not a fan of this new deal, but it isn't EA's fault this time. The NFL decided to give the license to the highest bidder. Everyone that wanted to bid did so, and EA outbid everyone. If you ask me, the NFL is to blame; but that's what they tend to do (Reebok, Gatorade, etc.). I also don't see where the poor working conditions at EA come into play here. You say I'm retarded for 2 reasons. First reason being that I'm "informing everyone of their poor debating skills" which was not true, and then I'm retarded because EA has poor working conditions... That doesn't make sense. Maybe I should inform YOU of YOUR poor debating skills.

No, you are retarded because of your poor choice in games. It didn't even happen once. 12 times? Obviously. If you couldn't get that very obvious implication of EA's tattiness, then you LOSE. And I said more than "they have poor working conditions" (I didn't even say that). Let me put it in a way you will understand (lol, yeah, this will make me look real smart!) : EA SATAN CUS DEY MAEK GAME VERY BAD, KILL GAMING.

The insult thing is a general comment. See also : Metallica Vs. Iron Maiden. It makes you looks silly. So cut it out.

I am retarded because of my poor choice in games... Is that all you have to say? You don't likle my choice in games? I don't give a rat's ass about what you think. Why should I live my life according to what a guy named Charlemagne using an avatar of redneck Billy Bob has to say?! This post was about the new deal between the NFL and EA, not about my choice of games. Stick to the damn subject.

So you admit you lose and cannot even defend your beloved EA series?

Poor show ... loser!

Damn! What's with a lot of people on these boards. First Prak and now Charlemagne. The point I was trying to make from the start is yes, I am an EA Sports fan but I don't approve of the new deal. I have the right to play whatever game I want to play. I don't have to defend anything. If you don't like them, don't play them.

I'm just fucking with you. I already said it was just an opinion.

That's where I got it from.That indicates nothing of the comprhesion of the licence merely EA's ownership of said licences. (Yo hablo con mucho intelgiente, verdad?)

Well you had me there. I can never tell with you. For a while you seemed to be backing me up against Prak, then you were backing him up. You start the shit, then the others beat the shit out of each other while you sit back and enjoy the show. :cool:

Both retarded imo.

wtf.

boy was I super queer last night. I was half asleep and a little drunk but I'm not even sure what I was talking about. =/

Wow. I don't play too many sports games, but this is still really major.

It makes me kind of sad, I guess. EA's just going to churn out really crappy games, and they won't have to worry about sales, since there won't be any sort of competition. =/

Phhoenyxx why don't you read entire posts next time eh? Charlemagne didn't only say that you were claiming we had poor debating skills but was also stating that your "I'm so awesome and you are all losers" attitude was a bit childish and petty and imo that was the blunt of that argument, not the debating skills bit.

Also, as Hogan said, if you were smart then you wouldn't have been led to the very incorrect assumption that Charlemagne didn't understand the article because unfortunately for you, he is a lot smarter than you and a lot more mature than you mir?

Lastly, when you say the only point you were making was that you like EA games and that you were sad about this but it wasn't EA's fault is a lie. Charlemagne rightfully posted saying that you weren't too smart buying all of the EA games (especially when the same game plus 1 new feature will come out the next year) and that he thought they already had all the licenses and then you start jumping down his throat putting words in his mouth and making fun of him because you didn't understand what he said.

gj there.

EDIT: This really sucks because I liked ESPN 2k5 so much more than Madden. Madden sucks it up imo.

I can see this deal ending up being a good thing.

If game companies can't rely on licenses to sell their games, then maybe they'll have to sell their games on the strength of their gameplay, like what Konami does with Winning Eleven.

And in Winning Eleven everything's editable and the create-a-player mode is very deep, so if you're hardcore, you can recreate the players and teams with a great deal of accuracy. You can even download already edited files off of the net. Editing everything actually sounds really fun to me.

I think a game like that could even sell pretty well. Winning Eleven has sold well enough to have two versions out in the US, and professional soccer isn't even very popular in the US.

Landlord of Sector 7, when did I claim to be "so awesome" and that you were all "losers"? I don't recall saying that nor thinking that. Maybe that's what YOU or Charlemagne interpreted, but that's never what I said. If you think that by saying that I have many EA Sports games I was stating that I am "awesome" then you're wrong. I only said that to show that even though I'm a big EA Sports fan, I don't like this new deal with the NFL. If you ask me, misinterpreting that only means that you think I'm awesome, it doesn't prove that I think I'm awesome. If I was awesome, I would've done better on my Discrete Math final. Now I hope you don't think that I'm claiming to be "awesome" for taking a Discrete Math class...

Why would you mention discrete math, just out of curiosity?

Because I didn't do good on my final, which means I'm not awesome.

You said "At least I understand what this new deal is all about, so who's really retarded here? This isn't brain surgery, but I'll explain it to you and I'll try not to use big words..."


That first bit is OBVIOUSLY implying that he doesn't understand what it's about, therefore you are showing your superiority over him.

The "who's really retarded here?" question seems that you are calling him retarded instead of yourself and implying that retarded people are less than intelligent people.

Lastly, the whole sentence looks to be in a mocking sort of tone treating Charlemagne like he is a child.

This saddens me. I love Sega's sports series, I've always strongly disliked Madden. Of course, even this year with 2k5 at $20, madden outsold it like 3 to 1 or something to that effect. EA really didn't even need to do this. People buy the game by brand recognition, they don't look at game reviews or anything.

I wish they would have left it alone so those of us who actually do our research instead of blindly following a name (wow, kinda funny on a final fantasy board) without looking into the quality could still have the superior game while the sheep keep madden. =(

First of all, LoS7, he didn't understand what it was about. Read his first post. When someone writes "I thought EA already had the licenses." that implies that he doesn't understand it. Second, in his first post, he quoted me and called ME retarded for no apparent reason. So what you're saying is that it's OK for him to insult me but I can't retaliate. So next time you wanna revive a dead thread, why don't you at least try to see both sides before jumping to conclusions. Or maybe he's your friend so you're backing him up. Or maybe it's because he has more posts, I dunno. All I know is that Charlemagne, I'm sorry I called you a retard, the real retard is clearly LoS7.

"Merry Christmas to all and to all shut the hell up!"

This thread wasn't dead.

He did call you a retard for "no reason" (even though he had a reason) so he was just as guilty as you were it's just that you had a hard time ceasing to argue with him and since I favor him more than you I yelled at you.

You misunderstood what he said imo and he was asking a question completely different than what you thought.

Your understanding isn't necessarily related to what you say, at worst that would just meant hadn't read it and wasn't particularly concerned with the whole thing.

And blah.