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The Extension Of The EA/NFL Exclusive Partnership For ‘Madden’ Is Bad For Consumers


This week, EA Sports and the NFL/NFLPA ratified a new exclusive agreement which allows only EA Sports to create simulation football video games through 2026. In other words, the classic NFL 2K series—which has not been around since 2004—will not be making a return any time soon, and it will just be Madden that’s on the market.

 

Earlier this year, it was announced that 2K would be allowed to create officially licensed arcade-style NFL games after agreeing to a deal with the league, and many thought that would lead to them being allowed to enter the marketplace for football simulation games when the EA deal was set to expire after the 2021 season. However, that is now officially not the case.

 

Take two seconds to search the EA/NFL deal on social media, and you’ll see plenty of complaints—with rarely any positive comments—about the new deal. The people do a good job of stating their discontent with the Madden franchise.

 

 

 

 

 

 

For the NFL and the NFLPA, it’s simple. The Madden game is an annual mainstay, and EA is paying a combined $1.5 billion over the next several years to remain exclusive.

 

Basically, Madden will likely remain a yearly recycled product with terrible gameplay and zero innovation. They’ll make a ton of money on Madden Ultimate Team, but many fans have simply stopped buying the game every year, and EA isn’t likely to get them back with the way the series has trended downward since 2004.

 

In the end, this is a video game. There are a lot of other things to be more upset over. But bottom line, this is not a good deal for consumers. Everyone knows competition helps create a better product, and Madden will not have been challenged for over two decades when this extension expires.

 

The only way to make a change is probably for people to stop buying the game over the next several years.

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