EA’s NFL license exclusivity in danger

[Perfect Zero]

Quote: Originally Posted by bulls23

Does anyone really think that EA or any company would sign any kind of deal where only SOME of the 32 teams are in the game? If the above scenario unfolded, each company (EA/2k/etc) would need to sign a deal with each team individually to have all the teams in the game, and I don't see anyway that all 32 teams would decide to just go with ONE company. Therefore, I think that competition in football games would be restored.

How much do you think a company is willing to pay to have all the teams with separate contracts? The cost would be through the roof to negotiate with every single team with their own demands and contracts. The only people that could do this is EA. Plus, EA could throw some extra money at some of the bigger name teams to go exclusive so that other developers couldn't use them.

It's nice to think about the end of exclusive licensing, but I don't see how either outcome benefits the cause for competition.

[MJenness]

Quote: Originally Posted by tazdevil20

I think the real question is whether or not these exclusive licenses have even been beneficial to these companies. I love 2k sports simply because the NFL 2k series games were the most realistic renditions of football in video game history. However, I don't feel 2k should have the exclusive license either. I think they are just bad overall for the consumer and it doesn't seem that these companies have really gotten their money's worth. Has EA really sold more ****** units due to being the only game in town to cover the high cost of the license? I doubt it. The game is awful too to boot. I stopped buying ****** in 2002, but I will say that the ****** games were certainly good games right up until they got that exclusivity. People here seem to be ok with the direction of the game, but I don't understand why. It's still light years behind NFL 2k5, in almost every category. NFL 2k5 was on old gen systems and it cost 20 dollars. ****** is 60 dollars plus I'm supposed to buy things that should come with the game? Forget it. The same can be said for 2k baseball. That game is garbage compared to what MVP baseball was and it's not even close to MLB the ****, which is undoubtedly the best sports game money can buy right now. Everyone on here knows ****** is what it is, they just don't want to admit it because they don't WANT it to be what it is. It's an, at best, mediocre football game, with shoddy gameplay, poor football fundamentals, weak presentation and really nice graphics. The same can be said for MLB 2k. How many years is 2k going to try to get it right? That game is just a complete mess. Exclusives are terrible all around. They drive the prices up, the quality down and end up being bad for business in the long term. I don't buy ******, but not because I don't like EA. I don't buy it because it's not worth half of what it costs. It's not going to be fixed. EA won't be able to re-write that game. You can't re-write a piece of software that has years of spaghetti code mangled together. It would take too long and there is no incentive for them to do so. Bring back the competition and it's a win win. If you want to sell the most games, make your game the best game. It's sad when a whole host of fans won't even buy ****** and it's the ONLY NFL game. That's telling. At least baseball fans have a choice if they want to invest in a ***.

And this was my exact point when the NFL license was first bought by EA...****** fans rejoiced like they had just achieved some type of victory, and I said well, there goes ******.

Here we are 6 years later and yep....the ONLY NFL game we can buy is garbage, and will STAY garbage until there is competition. It is just the nature of business...competition breeds innovation and quality...lack of it brings garbage.

But, it amazes me the number of people who are just so blindly loyal to ******/EA/Tiburon that they just can't see that we would ALL be better off if we only had choices and ****** had some competition. These are the people who I call sheep, herded by EA, beaten and abused by their "owner" yet stay blindly with the flock.

[IlluminatusUIUC]

Quote: Originally Posted by Perfect Zero

How much do you think a company is willing to pay to have all the teams with separate contracts? The cost would be through the roof to negotiate with every single team with their own demands and contracts. The only people that could do this is EA. Plus, EA could throw some extra money at some of the bigger name teams to go exclusive so that other developers couldn't use them.

1) These owners are businessmen, not fools. They may make silly football decisions from time to time, but they know that they would kill a major source of revenue by holding out.

2) As I've pointed out already, a win for American Needle doesn't mean the end of collective bargaining. The teams can still negotiate as one unit, but they cannot do so *exclusively* and they need to satisfy the Rule of Reason (not a high bar). W/R/T American Needle itself, collective bargaining doesn't pass that Rule because they only want and need *one* team's license rights. EA/2K needs all of them.

[ANDROMADA 1]

Quote: Originally Posted by IlluminatusUIUC

Wow, let's unpack the mistakes here: 1) The Supreme Court won't be taking any testimony, they almost never do. Only the court of original jurisdiction (in this case, the Northern District of Illinois IIRC) hears evidence. The Supreme Court is just presented with the record they created. 2) EA is not a party to this case. The connection is that the NFL's deal with Reebok is extremely similar in structure to its deal with EA, so if the SCOTUS undoes the former, it opens up legal challenges against the latter. Even if American Needle wins a resounding victory, 2K or someone still has to step up and challenge EA's deal directly in order to end exclusivity. 3) You seem confused by the term "Subject matter jurisdiction." Both this case and a the hypothetical future case against EA would both have jurisdiction in federal courts because they concern federal law ("Federal Question" jurisdiction - satisfied because the claims are brought under federal anti-trust law). Besides, both parties *want* the case to go before the Supreme Court and courts rarely kick out cases where both parties concede jurisdiction.

I made no mistake, and I'm not confused. I am talking about another case. Also records can have procedural errors in them, hence the lack of subject -matter jurisdiction, which would make the ruling of the lower court Void law. Federal courts are courts of limited jurisdiction. They must have sufficiency of pleadings to get jurisdiction from one of the parties involved. Also all Federal Laws do not apply to everyone. They can be challenged through proper judicial process. The law regarding Anti trust would be found in the Federal Annotated Statutes.

[IlluminatusUIUC]

Quote: Originally Posted by ANDROMADA 1

I made no mistake, and I'm not confused. I am talking about another case.

What other case? The thread is about American Needle.

Quote:

Also records can have procedural errors in them, hence the lack of subject -matter jurisdiction, which would make the ruling of the lower court Void law.

Subject matter jurisdiction exists in this case because it was brought under the Sherman Antitrust Act. This makes it a "federal question" and gives the federal courts the power to hear it under 28 USC 1331.

Quote:

Federal courts are courts of limited jurisdiction.

Yes, Article 3 and all that. Go on...

Quote:

They must have sufficiency of pleadings to get jurisdiction from one of the parties involved.

Yes, yes, the Well-Pleaded complaint rule and Removal Jurisdiction and all that. I'm still with you...

Quote:

Also all Federal Laws do not apply to everyone. They can be challenged through proper judicial process.

You lost me. The Sherman Anti-Trust act *does* apply to everyone in the United States. The question of American Needle is whether the NFL fits through a loophole in the law created by the SCOTUS in a case called Copperweld. Neither party is challenging the validity of the law, they are trying to determine where the NFL fits within it.

Quote:

The law regarding Anti trust would be found in the Federal Annotated Statutes.

Yeah, at 15 USC 1. So?

[Pringles]

16 pages of people who think there lawers and growing the evil empire has not reniewed the college licence for ncaa series my guess is if it not happen yet it prolly not going to happen at all. they can not afford it anymore.

so good news in my book