EA Officially Changing Name of FIFA Series to EA Sports FC in 2023

[DrJones]

Quote: Originally Posted by PhillyPhanatic14

The price of what? Their name? If they did the same thing as FIFA then the only thing that would change is it would be called Madden 23 instead of Madden NFL 23...

No. Without the NFL license, you couldn't use official team names, uniforms, stadiums, etc. Without the NFLPA license, you couldn't use the real players. Losing those licenses would kill Madden.

The FIFA license affects none of that. The players (FIFPro) are a separate license, the Premier League (and every other league) is a separate license, etc.

For the hockey fans in here, think of FIFA as the IIHF. No impact on the NHL whatsoever.

[PhillyPhanatic14]

Quote: Originally Posted by DrJones

I believe EA pays the NFL/NFLPA 250M per year while paying FIFA 150M per year. FIFA are feeling the COVID pinch (same reason they pushed to hold a World Cup every two years) and asked for double. Bear in mind that the NFL deal pays for the rights to use all the teams and players. When it comes to FIFA, you're only paying for the name and the World Cup license. All the players, all the leagues, are separate. Hell, the rights to the Champions League and Euros are separate, even though both are run by UEFA. So what's happening here is the equivalent of EA losing the rights to the name "Madden" but still retaining the full NFL/NFLPA license. NOTE FOR POTENTIAL PRYING EYES: This is all publicly available info. I'm not giving away any secrets.

Just gonna increase that size so people can maybe understand this finally... There is no correlation between the FIFA situation and Madden in any way.

[videogamelover]

is this game going to be FIFA 24 rebranded, or does EA have to delete all of their code, that they used for multiple years, and start from scratch?

[PhillyPhanatic14]

Quote: Originally Posted by videogamelover

is this game going to be FIFA 24 rebranded, or does EA have to delete all of their code, that they used for multiple years, and start from scratch?

EA is taking the word "FIFA" off the cover and releasing the same game.



When FIFA releases their own game in 2024 (if that even happens) they're starting from scratch. They don't even have a developer working on a game currently based on most reporting I've seen.

[Madden08PCgmr]

Quote: Originally Posted by DrJones

No. Without the NFL license, you couldn't use official team names, uniforms, stadiums, etc. Without the NFLPA license, you couldn't use the real players. Losing those licenses would kill Madden.

Not sure EA would make a football game if they lost the NFL/PA licenses.

But they definitely have the capability, if they chose to.

.. if they went through a divorce with the NFL, I wouldn't put it past them to roll out their best game yet just to give a big finger wave on their way out the door.

[hockeyyt988]

I'm seeing a lot "Madden should do this" comments, I'm not going to argue whether they should or shouldn't but there is a difference between the two.

Soccer is a much bigger sport globally than Football. EA sports (and Konami or whatever publisher wants to make a soccer game) negotiates individually with the specific leagues. Licensing does sell, that's why they do it. It's a major reason why EA pulled away from Konami during the PS4 generation. PES (now EFootball) has always had superior gameplay, but you have to play in generic stadiums with "Man Red" instead of Man United (unless you have a gaming PC with mods which I do haha). That doesn't sell.

So when EA is walking away from a 250M licensing fee, that fee is first and foremost for the brand name FIFA. That's not a fee for the premier league or La Liga, arguably the NFL of soccer so from EA's perspective, they are losing the ability to slap FIFA on the box and say "FIFA 22" along with the FIFA branded tournaments. I believe the FIFPRO is the body that license out the players likeness (equivalent to the NFLPA) so again, from there perspective, they think it's a better business move to not spend 250M a year per FIFA's request.

Madden and the NFL is completely different. The license agreement there is exclusive and includes the NFLPA as well. So if the NFL did the same thing as FIFA, it would be detrimental to EA because they would have to have generic stadiums the NY Blue Vs NY Green and no real players because the NFLPA wouldn't be included. 2K did this in All-Pro 2K8 and it didn't compete because no one wants NY Blue VS NY Green. What I've never understood is why someone wouldn't make a fully mod-able game and allow the community to add what anything into the game. Create great gameplay, allows the community to build the rest but I digress.

Should the NFL do this to EA? Maybe. I do know they just re-upped through 2026 so they must be satisfied with what EA is doing profit wise.

If they did raise their licensing price, would that be good for consumers? Of course because it's competition and that's always a good thing.

The question there becomes "what publisher is going to take this project on?". In the 90's, games were simpler so the opportunity to compete was much easier. Today? Not so much. As much people despised the way sports games are now, the truth is that it would take years for a new publisher to get up to speed with a product that truly meets the market's expectations. It would have to be an already established game publisher with deep pockets and even then, they might think the "road to the black" is too long.

In a weird way, everyone scolds game companies for being "greedy" but in the same breath are asking the NFL to be greedy and "raise their price" so that it produces the result we want.

All this to say, it's apples to oranges with this "NFL vs FIFA" thing. One is happy with the results and has all the assets tied to it (NFL) and one thinks they are worth 250M a year and believe the market will bare that for their name only (FIFA).

Only time will tell if they are right and only time will tell if we can get another NFL game (2026 at the earliest).