Madden class-action suit

[Spongedaddy]

Quote: Originally Posted by boooey

Everyone wants to blame the NFl.. Yea, you should be mad at them, but they still were not the ones who put out Madden 06, 07, 08.. That was EA , not the NFL.

I am not saying to blame the NFL. I am saying if you want someone to blame at least look at the people who made the deal possible. EA would have still put out Madden even if 2K was still around. It's just popular (and somewhat of the herd mentality) to blame EA. This suit will not go anywhere.

There really is nothing positive that can come from it or hating on EA for trying to position their product as best as possible.

[PantherBeast_OS]

Bottom line no matter what anyone does to sue EA. EA will always win the case hands down. Money talks. EA has plenty of it.

[dannydufflebags]

Well, since this is a class-action suit, where can I, and the rest of the OP who want to see this exclusive license scrapped, sign our names as a plaintiff?

[spankdatazz22]

Quote: Originally Posted by RaiderKtulu

APF wasn't a failure simply because it didn't have an NFL license. Yes, an NFL 2k8 would have probably done much better sales than APF did... but a "Barry Sanders' Pro Football 2k8" with generic, customizable teams would have also done better than APF did. The retired players/fantasy league thing was a really flawed concept.

Yes, because the Barry Sanders by himself concept makes so much better sense lol

We all have our ideas on why APF didn't succeed, and the reasons are numerous. But there's no one concept that's guaranteed, including full customization as some think. I haven't read the full thread nor do I understand the specifics of the lawsuit. But I thought the issue wasn't just about the NFL. Each entity is free to do with it's intellectual property what it wants, but EA acted to severely restrict competition by locking up these separate IPs under it's umbrella. I don't know that they did anything illegal, but it seems pretty easy to argue that they acted to restrict competition as much as they possibly could by giving 2K or any other dev nowhere to turn for a legitimate football license (and PLEASE don't say the CFL, XFL, USFL, etc. are legit options). Not to mention EA's football exclusivity announcements all came within a few months of each other. And not long after it was reported they were going for the NBA license (but turned down). They already had FIFA and NASCAR exclusivity.

They're in the financial position where they can do whatever they want, but it seems ridiculous for people to try to argue that they weren't trying their best to restrict competition.

[iLukeisamazing]

Of course they were trying to restrict the competition. But any contracts professor will tell you that we don't discourage people getting the best deal for themselves in this country, we actually encourage by forcing people to stick to contracts they make in good conscience, even when they turn out poorly for one party.

Any group that owns an IP or a license to a group identity or something along these lines can sell that to any group they please at their own discretion. Coca-Cola does this, so does Pepsi. They sell exclusive rights at stadia and for certain leagues, and no one calls this unfair, even if one completely gobbled up all stadium licensing in America, it still wouldn't be. The NFL already has a vast antitrust exemption to make and market their product (American football) as the only one on the market, and completely corner the market in that manner (MLB, NBA, MLS, etc. have the same exemptions for the most part). Therefore, they are free to do as they choose with their likeness and branding, and no amount of whining about cornering a market where an antitrust exemption exists is going to change this unless something untoward was done in the process between EA and the NFL.

[Nintari]

Quote: Originally Posted by iLukeisamazing

Of course they were trying to restrict the competition. But any contracts professor will tell you that we don't discourage people getting the best deal for themselves in this country, we actually encourage by forcing people to stick to contracts they make in good conscience, even when they turn out poorly for one party. Any group that owns an IP or a license to a group identity or something along these lines can sell that to any group they please at their own discretion. Coca-Cola does this, so does Pepsi. They sell exclusive rights at stadia and for certain leagues, and no one calls this unfair, even if one completely gobbled up all stadium licensing in America, it still wouldn't be. The NFL already has a vast antitrust exemption to make and market their product (American football) as the only one on the market, and completely corner the market in that manner (MLB, NBA, MLS, etc. have the same exemptions for the most part). Therefore, they are free to do as they choose with their likeness and branding, and no amount of whining about cornering a market where an antitrust exemption exists is going to change this unless something untoward was done in the process between EA and the NFL.

The supreme court can fix this by revoking their exemption.

Problem solved.

[creed200569]

Anyone who would stand behind EA is a complete idiot. Whether you like EA or 2K,EA needs competition and so do the people buying the games. Its not right for us to only have 1 option of NFL football to choose from,especially since Madden on next gen is far from real football. I love playing Madden 09 on PS2,the animations are better,the AI is better and it just feels better. Next gen is so robotic and the players run around with a stick up their arse.


Ian Cummings is gonna change this franchise around to where it should be. I can see it already in the short time he's been in charge. I know EA is gonna win this cuz they just have too much money to not win it plus if EA loses,theres a chance the court could rule each team has a right to choose how much money they want to use their teams and that could ruin Madden and any other NFL game for the future cuz even EA doesnt have that kind of money to pay for every team,so there could be half NFL teams and half generic and that would suck. This was mentioned at gameinformer.com for those who are wondering

I would hope that if the EA or the NFL think that it could come to this that they would drop the whole exclusive license so it does ruin the future of NFL gaming.

[salbowski]

Quote: Originally Posted by creed200569

Anyone who would stand behind EA is a complete idiot. Whether you like EA or 2K,EA needs competition and so do the people buying the games. Its not right for us to only have 1 option of NFL football to choose from,especially since Madden on next gen is far from real football. I love playing Madden 09 on PS2,the animations are better,the AI is better and it just feels better. Next gen is so robotic and the players run around with a stick up their arse. Ian Cummings is gonna change this franchise around to where it should be. I can see it already in the short time he's been in charge. I know EA is gonna win this cuz they just have too much money to not win it plus if EA loses,theres a chance the court could rule each team has a right to choose how much money they want to use their teams and that could ruin Madden and any other NFL game for the future cuz even EA doesnt have that kind of money to pay for every team,so there could be half NFL teams and half generic and that would suck. This was mentioned at gameinformer.com for those who are wondering I would hope that if the EA or the NFL think that it could come to this that they would drop the whole exclusive license so it does ruin the future of NFL gaming.

It's not about standing by EA?

Why can't you people read the facts before posting? The NFL choose to sell the rights to one bidder, EA won.
The NFL choose to sell the rights to one bidder, EA won.
The NFL choose to sell the rights to one bidder, EA won.
Get it??
It's the NFL not EA that are responsible for it.

Now don't get me wrong, i dislike EA for their efforts with Madden in the last 5 years but you can't blame them for winning the rights to the NFL, the games they've produced- YES but not the sole rights.