Everything has compliments

[GiantBlue76]

Quote: Originally Posted by LiquorLogic

I agree with everything you said except the sentence in bold. In the case with American Needle, the Supreme Court said the NFL cannot be considered a single entity. The reason why they, the NFL, were allowed make exclusive deals with Reebok and EA is that they were considered(by the US court of appeals, seventh circuit) a single entity. As you know, the Supreme Court said the NFL isn't a single entity, so the deals with Reebok and EA are illegal. What has to happen now is that American Needle has to win their case. I understand your skepticism, but I don't see how the NFL can win. I also don't see the NFL, after losing the case with American Needle, renewing the deal and risk getting taken to court again considering the precedent that would be set by the case with American Needle. The deal is also expensive, and if I'm not mistaken, Madden's sales haven't increased because to the deal. What's the point in spending all that cash on the license if sales aren't increasing ?

It's not all about "increasing" sales. It's maintaining them. EA executives are smart enough to realize that the NFL brand sells itself. Just look at this web site around release time. There are TONS of folks who are frustrated with Madden quality, yet freely admit they will buy the game because they love the NFL, not because they love Madden. That's exactly what they want and they know that is what will make them loads of money. That is a direct result of having the exclusive license. It's a free pass to be complacent and take very little risk. It's not a coincidence that EA invests heavily into NHL, NBA and FIFA. All of those games have formidable competitors. Madden is years behind. YEARS...

[LiquorLogic]

Quote: Originally Posted by tazdevil20

It's not all about "increasing" sales. It's maintaining them. EA executives are smart enough to realize that the NFL brand sells itself. Just look at this web site around release time. There are TONS of folks who are frustrated with Madden quality, yet freely admit they will buy the game because they love the NFL, not because they love Madden. That's exactly what they want and they know that is what will make them loads of money. That is a direct result of having the exclusive license. It's a free pass to be complacent and take very little risk. It's not a coincidence that EA invests heavily into NHL, NBA and FIFA. All of those games have formidable competitors. Madden is years behind. YEARS...

Profit margins also matter to EA. EA has significantly increased their spending, by obtaining the exclusive license, so in order to increase or simply "maintain" their profit margin, their sales must increase, the price of Madden must increase, or they need to offer DLC. They've clearly done the latter, many assume it's due to greed, but maybe it's do to desperation. Sales haven't increase in the exclusive era, but, as I said before, expenses have. As long as EA has the license, those expenses will remain high, so they're not going to spend more money on developing the game as long as they're paying this hefty licensing fee.

Also, the NFL probably won't renew the deal with EA. They've already been taken to court for having an exclusive which is now known by everyone, including the Supreme Court, to be illegal since they're not a single entity. How much sense would it make to extend the exclusive deal when they were already sued for having an exclusive deal.

If someone sued you for something, would you keep on doing whatever you were being sued for to someone else ?

[Franchise408]

Oh man I hope the deal doesn't get renewed.

How many more years remain on the deal?

[K_GUN]

Quote: Originally Posted by Franchise408

Oh man I hope the deal doesn't get renewed. How many more years remain on the deal?

me too

seeing threads like this over in the 2k forums as well as here will be a welcome change

[LiquorLogic]

Quote: Originally Posted by Franchise408

Oh man I hope the deal doesn't get renewed. How many more years remain on the deal?

Three years left, but the exclusive NCAA license ends after the 2010 College football season is over.