I agree that this is brillant but I dont see how Ian can help. Madden is a victim of its' own success, IMO. NHL, FIFA, NBA Live/Elite and other EA sports games are just games to EA. They want them to sell but they are not the suits focal point like Madden is. Up until the exclusive NFL license Madden pretty much was innovated and updated on par with other EA sports games. After the large investments made in the exclusive licenses, NFL, ESPN and Arena football, Madden became more than just a video game juggernaut to EA. It became THE focal point product for EA suits because that's where the most investment was made. Suits can be good at making money but very seldom good at creating products. These last 6 years have the fingerprints of EA suits' micromanagement of Madden everywhere, IMO.
While I dont always agree with what little creative vision the devs are allowed to add, it's far different from my contempt for the suits profit driven features. I cant honestly believe it's Ians' idea to make some many features fee-based and noob friendly. I do hold him accountable for the implementation of most features but not for their profit driven aspects.
The end of the exclusive NFL license would not allow mean competition is back but would potentially restore order to the Madden dev cycle. With devs actually developing Madden and EA suits doing whatever the hell it is they are good at because it sure aint Madden development.