EA could lose exclusive NFL rights according to EGM

[adriano]

who would want the exclusive rights, Besides EA? EA has could actually lower their Bid and win it that way.. Someone would have to have a game thats ready for Next Gen.. and a fan base to make money.. their isnt one out there..There is only madden..

EA has no competition and the NFL wont have many developers ready for 11 on 11 nfl game style.. blitz maybe but not a real NFL game..

Too much risk involved in a license with no fan base and a high price tag for the rights..

[jmood88]

Quote: Originally Posted by mvb34

Well thats not true because even when 2K had the NFL liscense they didn't market their game, Hell they had the name ESPN on it and ESPN would still have show like NFL playbook present by EA..

Because ea had a deal with espn long before vc had the license.

[sroz39]

Quote: Originally Posted by adriano

who would want the exclusive rights, Besides EA? EA has could actually lower their Bid and win it that way.. Someone would have to have a game thats ready for Next Gen.. and a fan base to make money.. their isnt one out there..There is only madden.. EA has no competition and the NFL wont have many developers ready for 11 on 11 nfl game style.. blitz maybe but not a real NFL game.. Too much risk involved in a license with no fan base and a high price tag for the rights..

All the more reason why I believe what I posted a couple of months ago is a very likely scenario.

Refresher:

1) The NFL realizes it's being low-balled by EA and opens it back up again

or...

2) A company with DEEEEEP pockets (*cough* Microsoft *cough*) blows EA's bid out of the water and then the NFL has to decide whether they take the exclusivity thing even further by giving the license to a console maker. (I do not want this scenario to happen. Simply food for thought)

Before anyone dismisses the second scenario, understand that there's a price that EA won't pay and a price that the NFL would agree to for the license to go to Microsoft. Only question is, is that price too high for Microsoft?

[DaveDQ]

This rumor was posted earlier in the week. I really don't think it's true. I don't think the NFL cares about anything but that EA is properly representing them. And by that, I mean that they are not shedding any negative light on the league.

[mojopin]

MLB must be far more progressive than the NFL. They're riding 2k over MLB 2k6 (as admitted in an interview with the new project leader). MLB sees stagnancy, and they chide it; the NFL simply rewards it.

That must make the NHL a bunch of left-wing extremists, I guess.

[DaveDQ]

Quote: Originally Posted by mojopin

MLB must be far more progressive than the NFL. They're riding 2k over MLB 2k6 (as admitted in an interview with the new project leader).

Ben Brinkman never said they were receiving heat from the MLB. In that interview, Jon Ronison says, "And Brinkman knows the pressure is on to produce as word is Major League Baseball wasn't too happy with the quality of the game, or the direction the series was headed."

In another interview, Erik Whiteford, 2K's VP of Marketing was aked about the rumor that the MLB was upset with their MLB 2K6 game on the 360 and his response was, "No, I haven't heard anything like that. The pressure to make quality products really comes from internal sources. We want to make the best possible sports games in every sport we're into. That's what 2K Sports is all about... the real pressure comes from internally needing to deliver, not from any external sources."

That last sentence he makes is key to this whole topic. I don't for a minute think the MLB or NFL will come down on a developer but for one reason, and that to me would be them involving something in the game that shed negative light on the league (steroids, drugs, etc.).

If the NFL is thinking of not renewing the contract, it's probably because they feel they could have made more money by including other game companies, not because of being ticked off at Madden's choppy framerate.

[sroz39]

Quote: Originally Posted by dQbell

Ben Brinkman never said they were receiving heat from the MLB. In that interview, Jon Ronison says, "And Brinkman knows the pressure is on to produce as word is Major League Baseball wasn't too happy with the quality of the game, or the direction the series was headed." In another interview, Erik Whiteford, 2K's VP of Marketing was aked about the rumor that the MLB was upset with their MLB 2K6 game on the 360 and his response was, "No, I haven't heard anything like that. The pressure to make quality products really comes from internal sources. We want to make the best possible sports games in every sport we're into. That's what 2K Sports is all about... the real pressure comes from internally needing to deliver, not from any external sources." That last sentence he makes is key to this whole topic. I don't for a minute think the MLB or NFL will come down on a developer but for one reason, and that to me would be them involving something in the game that shed negative light on the league (steroids, drugs, etc.). If the NFL is thinking of not renewing the contract, it's probably because they feel they could have made more money by including other game companies, not because of being ticked off at Madden's choppy framerate.

Bad press is bad press. Whether the NFL gets viewed negatively because of steroids in a videogame or because said game is sub-standard quality, the negativity does not sit well with the NFL no matter the cause. Because so many different websites and publications have said ad nauseum that since the exclusive agreement, the product hasn't lived up to the hype/name/expectations, the NFL is made to look worse, not better.

And I wouldn't take an interview with Erik Whiteford at face value. He is NEVER going to say "yeah the MLB is giving us some heat because the game was very poor". That's not his job as a Marketing VP. You are putting yourself behind the eight-ball if you admit your last version of the game was bad enough to get the MLB Office's attention. The consumer will not care if the next version is good or not, because you've left them with the thought that the last version was terrible.

[DaveDQ]

Quote: Originally Posted by sroz39

Bad press is bad press. Whether the NFL gets viewed negatively because of steroids in a videogame or because said game is sub-standard quality, the negativity does not sit well with the NFL no matter the cause. Because so many different websites and publications have said ad nauseum that since the exclusive agreement, the product hasn't lived up to the hype/name/expectations, the NFL is made to look worse, not better. And I wouldn't take an interview with Erik Whiteford at face value. He is NEVER going to say "yeah the MLB is giving us some heat because the game was very poor". That's not his job as a Marketing VP.

I agree, and I think however you get it, bad press is bad press. I just think it was more on the side of 2K getting it rather than the MLB. I just am not sure the MLB came down on them.

On a good note, in that same Whitehead interview, he doesn't confirm or deny a football game. He simply states, "we're playing our cards very close."