Realistically, do you see the NFL ending the exclusivity deal?

[tlc12576]

Quote: Originally Posted by Exonerated

I attest to this conjecture

I had to look up the definition of "attest" and "conjecture" to reply to this post. LOL

So are you attesting the NFLs' claim that a cheap price equals a cheap product,my claim that the NFL meant that when they said "NFL brand value" or something different that I missed?

Quote: Originally Posted by MJenness

But, we also all know the NFL was dead wrong, as 2k5 proved. They (NFL) can spin it any way they want...the "it reduces the value of our (NFL) product", but anyone with an ounce of common sense can clearly see WHY this happened, as I spelled out in a previous post.

I agree.The common sense of why this happened is clearly that the NFL agreed to the exclusive license for a larger profit.However,the how this all unfolded seems complicated and somewhat unethical,IMO.I only say unethical because even though there was a bidding process,this process can sometimes be corrupted,ie allegedlly Halliburtion. LOL

[tlc12576]

Quote: Originally Posted by TNT713

Whether we like it or not, we can expect to see the exclusive NFL deals with game developers. The NFL's ultimate goal is to maintain some control over how its brand is presented. Even if EA doesn't get the deal renewed, someone will have exclusive rights. The reason: Over the past 20+ years of video game football, only 3 titles are viewed as successful. Tecmo Bowl, NFL2K, and Madden are the only series with NFL licenses to deliver good fun and good football. The rest of the NFL licensed games were forgettable at best. Because so many developers over the years bought the license but produced sub-par games, the NFL made it a point to guard their brand with an exclusive deal. Fortunately, developers are making football games despite not being NFL licensed that look to be better than the shotty NFL games of the past. Later

If this was the case and the NFL is paying that much attention to the quality of NFL video games,why did the NFL allow EA to extend the deal in 2008 after next-gen Madden 06-08?

Those games where the text book definition of "sub-par",IMO.

[TheWatcher]

One thing that's been said by others and myself included over the years, is that if the Madden games since the deal had turned out great there wouldn't be nearly as many complaints about the exclusive deal as there are now. There are exclusive deals in place for items we buy everyday and the public is not as vocally angry about it as we've seen with Madden. In fact, for the most part, consumers don't care about those exclusive deals at all.

I think we've all learned that Hasbro having an exclusive license to produce a line of Superhero toys or Crest having an exclusive license to pack-in a popular toothbrush with each tube of toothpaste, and a video game company having an exclusive license to produce league games are very similar in procedure but with very different public expectations. We pretty much don't care at all about exclusives for other things, but this one thing with exclusives for league sports has made us react differently to the long-standing concept. Although, I'd argue that if products in those other sectors also took the quality dive that Madden took this generation, we'd see some public anger especially now with the internet being central to the era we live in today.

[tlc12576]

Quote: Originally Posted by TheWatcher

One thing that's been said by others and myself included over the years, is that if the Madden games since the deal had turned out great there wouldn't be nearly as many complaints about the exclusive deal as there are now. There are exclusive deals in place for items we buy everyday and the public is not as vocally angry about it as we've seen with Madden. In fact, for the most part, consumers don't care about those exclusive deals at all. I think we've all learned that Hasbro having an exclusive license to produce a line of Superhero toys or Crest having an exclusive license to pack-in a popular toothbrush with each tube of toothpaste, and a video game company having an exclusive license to produce league games are very similar in procedure but with very different public expectations. We pretty much don't care at all about exclusives for other things, but this one thing with exclusives for league sports has made us react differently to the long-standing concept. Although, I'd argue that if products in those other sectors also took the quality dive that Madden took this generation, we'd see some public anger especially now with the internet being central to the era we live in today.

Good post with alot of very good points.I think this gets to the heart of why EA having the exclusive license is so fustrating.I have said before that I could careless about who has the exclusive license,just put out a quality product.With EA being a successful multi-billion dollar company,you would think they understand free market principles better than most.

For EA to obtain the exclusive license and then produce four straight years of sub-par games with next-gen Madden 06-09,is mind boggling.It seems pointless to corner a market for five years and then not maximize your consumer sales potential every year by producing a high quality product.EA,after the obtaining the exclusive NFL license in 2004,acted as if consumers would forget how football games had been progressing and just accept a sub par standard.

For a company of EAs' succesful caliber to do something so clearly bad for business even in a cornered market makes very little sense.

[alliance4g63]

Quote: Originally Posted by kjcheezhead

I've read a few articles saying that 2k5's selling price prompted exclusivity. Here is an article from Gamespot back then basically suggesting it as well. http://www.gamespot.com/news/2004/12...s_6114977.html Quote: "Some industry insiders speculate the exclusive deal was embraced by the NFL after it saw Take-Two lower the price of its 2K5 product earlier this year. No licensor likes to see a price war being fought with its brand value at stake" Edit: I had the wrong link originally. I've corrected it now.

And that is what really makes me wonder when it comes to 2ksports. They had to have known they would upset the NFL with the price point, so why not have a long term plan with 2k football? They couldn't have been that naive and think the 19 dollar price wouldn't piss the NFL off.

I am just so pissed that it seemed they had the balls to take down Ea with the aggressive pricing yet when it actually worked they seem to say "ok what now?". They should have had a new unlicensed game ready to go with that same 2k5 engine in case the worst happened. They lost so much momentum and so many loyal fans when all we wanted was a slightly upgraded version of 2k5. I would really like to know what happened at 2ksports prior to and after the deal went down.

[tlc12576]

Quote: Originally Posted by alliance4g63

And that is what really makes me wonder when it comes to 2ksports. They had to have known they would upset the NFL with the price point, so why not have a long term plan with 2k football? They couldn't have been that naive and think the 19 dollar price wouldn't piss the NFL off. I am just so pissed that it seemed they had the balls to take down Ea with the aggressive pricing yet when it actually worked they seem to say "ok what now?". They should have had a new unlicensed game ready to go with that same 2k5 engine in case the worst happened. They lost so much momentum and so many loyal fans when all we wanted was a slightly upgraded version of 2k5. I would really like to know what happened at 2ksports prior to and after the deal went down.

Hindsight is 20/20.Funny thing is,with the EA putting out a terrible next-gen Madden 2006,2k sports could of sold NFL 2k5 at full price in 2004,kept the NFL license and sold next-gen NFL 2k6 in 2005 for $100 a copy! LOL

After playing next-gen Madden 2006,people would have gladly paid top dollar for any other game with a NFL license.

[spankdatazz22]

Quote: Originally Posted by alliance4g63

And that is what really makes me wonder when it comes to 2ksports. They had to have known they would upset the NFL with the price point, so why not have a long term plan with 2k football? They couldn't have been that naive and think the 19 dollar price wouldn't piss the NFL off.

Maybe people shouldn't be so naive that the NFL was upset to begin with. Even if the NFL were "pissed" because of the pricing, how was 2K to know? Their other sports games were priced at $19.99 too - but apparently only the NFL got "pissed" because of the pricing; MLB, NHL, and the NBA didn't freak out. They used a common business practice (attractive pricing, aggressive advertising) to try to become relevant in a market completely dominated by Madden at the time. It's not like the quality of the game suffered; the game was rated highly. I remember 2K5 was the first football game to have online leagues that year with real-time stat tracking. The big online feature Tiburon touted that same year was... Fantasy Football. 2K obviously had long-term plans for the game. We talked about it earlier - Madden was a system seller during that period. 2K had to do something drastic to gain marketshare, and it worked. If anything, it worked too well. That's part of the reason I don't believe in the "2K did it to themselves" view - you have to reach for it to make sense.

[alliance4g63]

Quote: Originally Posted by spankdatazz22

Maybe people shouldn't be so naive that the NFL was upset to begin with. Even if the NFL were "pissed" because of the pricing, how was 2K to know? Their other sports games were priced at $19.99 too - but apparently only the NFL got "pissed" because of the pricing; MLB, NHL, and the NBA didn't freak out. They used a common business practice (attractive pricing, aggressive advertising) to try to become relevant in a market completely dominated by Madden at the time. It's not like the quality of the game suffered; the game was rated highly. I remember 2K5 was the first football game to have online leagues that year with real-time stat tracking. The big online feature Tiburon touted that same year was... Fantasy Football. 2K obviously had long-term plans for the game. We talked about it earlier - Madden was a system seller during that period. 2K had to do something drastic to gain marketshare, and it worked. If anything, it worked too well. That's part of the reason I don't believe in the "2K did it to themselves" view - you have to reach for it to make sense.

But by the way it actually happened that is all I can come up with. They put a huge dent into the monster that was Madden football only to run away with their tails between their legs when the monster pumped its fist a little. They completely shut out their loyal hardcore fanbase with little to no information for years. Plenty held onto the dream that 2k football would return and look how that turned out.

So yea I do partially blame 2kports for the state of football gaming. Especially when they keep producing games that barely sell 200k copies. Their business outlook for 2kfootball couldn't have thought too much about longevity because if it did, they would have thought about the big "what if we piss the NFL off with our price point". Not to mention it has been proven that EA approached the NFL prior to the deal about exclustivity. So they had to have taken that into consideration, or did they?