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[maynerd]

http://www.gamespot.com/news/2004/12/17/news_6115293.html

"RUMOR #1: The next Electronic Arts football game will not feature the likeness or name of John Madden.


Source: Sources close to EA Sports.

The official story: EA Sports reps declined to comment.

What we heard: After EA shocked gamers worldwide Monday by announcing it had signed a five-year exclusivity deal with the NFL for teams, stadiums, and player likenesses. Besides casting the shadow of doom over all rival football franchises, which will have to resort to alternate leagues (arena football or the CFL) or completely made-up ones (as Midway: Playmakers is), the deal also spawned a slew of rumors about the deal. Most were about how EA could afford the industry-shaking deal's price tag, which rumors put at anywhere between $300 million to $1 billion. Besides raising the specter of a $59.99 NFL game, the deal also spawned some interesting theories on how EA might wring greater earnings from its monopoly--one of which was presented to GameSpot editors from a source with ties to EA Sports. Under the source's scenario, EA would up its profit margins by ending its licensing deal with John Madden, thus saving royalty fees. Though Madden has been synonymous with football games for 15 years, the sports personality's in-game commentary has been cited by many critics as the game's biggest weakness. Given the commentator's age and the fact EA no longer needs the cachet the Madden name brings, it is definitely in the realm of possibility..."


Seems plausable.

 

[cybamerc]

Someone else should sign Madden and call their game Madden Football. I wonder if casuals would fall for it.

 

[Unison]

Someone else should sign Madden and call their game Madden Football. I wonder if casuals would fall for it.

:lol

 

[Poody]

This actually makes sense. Now EA can contrive any football game and force them down consumer throats.

You hear that FUEA if you're reading this.

 

[sonycowboy]

I believe this news.

Seriously.

Although, I believe it's likely that they'll try to negotiate a VERY long term deal at a reduced price to keep the name, but if Madden's team doesn't play along, they simply don't need the name anymore. Nobody else can use it because without the NFL license it's useless.

 

[DarienA]

Now that they have the NFL license tied up I could definitely see this happening...

 

[snapty00]

Weren't they thinking of dumping him even years ago? I don't think this is anything new, except that with the NFL license under their belt, it makes it that much more realistic.

 

[mr2mike]

Yeah, now that they have the exclusive NFL license, they dont need to license the madden name on top of it to differenciate their game from other NFL games since they've got the only NFL game around.

 

[rawk]

I believe this news.

Seriously.

Although, I believe it's likely that they'll try to negotiate a VERY long term deal at a reduced price to keep the name, but if Madden's team doesn't play along, they simply don't need the name anymore. Nobody else can use it because without the NFL license it's useless.

I wouldn't say it's useless. Might not be worth the price, but if some company decided they wanted to do a football game with generic teams, it might help to call it "Madden Football 2006" or whatever. I bet it would sell plenty of copies just to people who didn't bother to look at the back of the box.

 

[deadhorse32]

If EA is smart they'll force Madden to sign a covenant in restraint of competition for a few years. And voilà.

 

[DCX]

Get rid of Madden, sign exclusive network deals with EPSN/ABC/, Fox, and CBS and use specific annoucers due to the broadcast in question.

DCX

 

[sonycowboy]

Get rid of Madden, sign exclusive network deals with EPSN/ABC/, Fox, and CBS and use specific annoucers due to the broadcast in question.

DCX

I think that get's them into the same problem as now. They don't want to have to pay ANY License fees that they don't want to.

The NFL license / Players association are mandatory, and paying extra for Madden / ESPN is something they don't want to do. The Madden license used to be cheap until they built it up as the defacto brand for their game.

I expect they'll come up with some defining IP of their own related to their sports titles and try to leverage that out to the real world (eg ESPN, Fox, etc) as opposed to vice versa.

 

[DCX]

I think that get's them into the same problem as now. They don't want to have to pay ANY License fees that they don't want to.

The NFL license / Players association are mandatory, and paying extra for Madden / ESPN is something they don't want to do. The Madden license used to be cheap until they built it up as the defacto brand for their game.

I expect they'll come up with some defining IP of their own related to their sports titles and try to leverage that out to the real world (eg ESPN, Fox, etc) as opposed to vice versa.

Well when you think about it, Sega has had the ESPN license which in essence would carry ABC as well. Doesn't Madden work for ABC? Wouldn't you think there could be a loop hole in the contracts where it would allow them to release the MAdden contract, sign the ESPN/ABC license for less money and still use Madden as a commentator rather than a pitch man?

DCX

 

[Deku Tree]

Sounds like a real possibility.

 

[StoOgE]

Well when you think about it, Sega has had the ESPN license which in essence would carry ABC as well. Doesn't Madden work for ABC? Wouldn't you think there could be a loop hole in the contracts where it would allow them to release the MAdden contract, sign the ESPN/ABC license for less money and still use Madden as a commentator rather than a pitch man?

DCX

ABC doesnt own Madden. Sega Sports still has to pay Boomer and everyone to do commentary for their game on top of paying ESPN for their name. Just because you get Fox Sports or ABC sports doesnt mean that you get their personalities, you have to pay for those still.

For what its worth, I dont think Sega is going to get rid of ESPN. Their sales for other sports games are still very good.. plus, I imagine ESPN College Gameday 2k6 will have pretty decent sales. I just dont know if ESPN will be able to properly simulate the suck that is Trev Alberts.

 

[Baron Aloha]

Not gonna happen IMO. The only way EA will stop using the Madden name is if John Madden prevents them from using it. Madden is a brand that EA has spent over a decade building. Nowadays Madden pretty much sells on name alone. There's no way they would give that up.

Not only that, but what if someone else secured the rights to the NFL games in 5 years and decided to make a deal with Madden on top of it? They'd make a killing off a dynasty that EA built and there's no way EA would let that happen voluntarily.

 

[Dsal]

I still think they'll do it. It'll save them a lot of money and they needed to concentrate on preparing and building up their own brand for the post-Madden era anyways. As mighty as the Madden brand is, with exclusivity and mega-marketing they would be able to get their brand up to speed pretty quickly.

 

[DJPS2]

If this would mean getting rid of Al Michaels and John Madden calling the games, I'm all for it. Christ, Michaels did better work on Accolade's Hardball franchise.

I don't know who'd fill in for them, though... but I'm really sick of hearing "BOOM!"... we need more constructive color commentary than that.

 

[DaCocoBrova]

I almost choked when I heard what EA pays Madden in royalties.