NFL License

[UMhester04]

If the only good thing to come out of next year is that Madden absolutely drops the ball, I would be pretty happy. Even more happy than if they just came out with a decent game, because a decent game will sell millions and we will still expect a great game next year. I would rather have them drop the ball next year so sales go down for 14. I can live with a year of no football gaming (since I pretty much have for the last 3 years after I get sick of the mediocre game Madden has become) if theres hope of another game...



Every time I start talking about this exclusive license I get pissed off. I just want a god d*** choice.

[roadman]

Quote: Originally Posted by BlackJackRabbit

As expensive as the exclusive license is, you can be sure that EA wants to lower the price, especially since it hasn't increased their sales. If there is a cheaper price ( that EA's willing to pay) that will still pay the NFL more money than multiple licenses, than that deal will get done, but then there may be other publishers that would also pay that price, and that would start a bidding war, raising the price, and now everyone is going in circles because ( again) no one wants to pay that hefty price. Disney was in the running for the license, but EA outbid them. A lower price may bring Disney, as well as other publishers, back into the fold. That price would have to be a price that's low enough for EA, but still scares other publishers away. If there was such a price, it's hard to imagine why EA wouldn't be paying that price in the first place. Who knows? We'll find out next year.

Agreed, but you know the NFL will give EA first dibs for being a loyal vendor for all these years.

I just think the NFL will try to deal with EA and get a deal done at whatever price it takes for both businesses to make a profit.

As you said, we'll see.

[spankdatazz22]

Quote: Originally Posted by Tyrant8RDFL

Like it was stated. The NFL's way of business is through exclusive contracts with guaranteed money. They are not going to change their business practice when this method works great for them. Madden 13 will amaze us, and all this talk about exclusive license will fade away. Just as I predicted the mess Madden 10 was going to be when that game released, and many here were against me because Ian was all over the forums. My gut is telling me plain and simple. Madden 13 is going to be a awesome football game, so BE READY

It's good you're enthusiastic about next year's release, but I haven't seen enough from M12 or from EA (other than increasing the dev team and a new guy in charge) to say definitively that M13 will be an awesome football game - yet. Imo they'll have to bring something in terms of innovation and pushing videogame football forward, not just improving on what's there - because that's a bottom line expectation. We shouldn't be going into every year with the bottom line hope that the game doesn't regress.

And I'd disagree that the exclusivity talk will ever end. A good Madden game will temper a lot of the anger/disappointment, but I don't think it'll ever get to the point where people no longer wonder what videogame football might be in a competitive environment. As much as people like NBA2K right now, if they were to announce they signed an exclusive license with the NBA there would be many people that'd freak. They essentially have exclusivity now with no EA or San Diego Studios basketball game, but people realize things played out naturally and don't fault them for the situation. No one knows what EA will deliver next year w/it's basketball game. But even as a NBA2K fan I'm curious. No one would want to be forced to decide between Battlefield or CoD, regardless of how good either is. People just naturally want choice and understand competition breeds innovation

[Senator Palmer]

Quote: Originally Posted by BlackJackRabbit

It was beneficial for both sides at one point, but now it only benefits the NFL. Before, the exclusive deal shutout 2k, and every other competitor, while also thwarting any progress that those companies made in development. Madden will have unmatched name recognition whether they have an exclusive license or not. Madden has been the biggest household name concerning football games for a while, and for the last several years they've been the only name. Sales never benefited from the exclusive license, and since the licensing fees were much higher, profits couldn't have either.

Not disagreeing with any of your points about the sales. What I'm saying is that a product like Madden has all kinds of ancillary benefits to a company as a whole, that go beyond just sales data.

When it comes down to NFL/EA, I personally believe that the NFL wants EA to have the license, because they love the product that's put out every year, despite the flaws that we see. There's a trust when you form a partnership for this long, and from the NFL's POV, EA has done nothing to violate that trust. But that's just me speculating.

What I can tell you definitively is that every negotiation is about leverage, and going from the premise of an exclusive license, right now, EA needs the NFL more than the NFL needs EA and both sides know it. Of course EA wants the fee down. If I were in the room I'd haggle every way I could think of -- everything from moving around backend points, maybe giving them a few thousand shares of stock, anything to back off that $70 million price tag. But this is one of those deals where you sit down during negotiation time, and play some hardball, but deep down, both sides know it's just that, and at the end of the day, the deal will be made.

The same way I can tell you without a doubt that Drew Bress ain't getting out of New Orleans, despite how many reports leak out about a difficult negotiations, I can tell you that EA is not letting its franchise game go. And if it comes down to exclusivity, and a bidding war, they'll keep that bid higher than anyone else's. EA is going to be in the business of making football games for a long time to come. The only realistic hope is if the NFL changes it's way of doing business, and right now there's no incentive to do so.

We'll see how it all shakes out. Hopefully you can bump this thread next year and say, "I told you so."

[BlackJackRabbit]

Quote: Originally Posted by spankdatazz22

they'll have to bring something in terms of innovation and pushing videogame football forward, not just improving on what's there

Exactly.

[wheelman990]

Quote: Originally Posted by roadman

It's been stated by a former EA developer on the MVP series here at OS that the NFL makes more $ on a single license vs several licenses at once from different games. The only eggs in a basket they are concerned with is the almighty dollar like any business is interested in .

This is only IF Madden continues to do well. What happens if people just get tired of the same old Madden? I personally think it's happened a little already. Sure, there are still millions of people buying the game, but lets be honest...with the exclusive there numbers should have improved vastly since 2005 IMO.

What happens if EA's game doesn't sell, and then nobody wants a piece of the pie at or near the NFL's asking price? Like I said, if you have no promises or contracts insuring you get a multiple year deal....then why committ at all? It's risky. Develope a new series only to loose the license a year or two down the road when EA could once again get a exclusive? No thx

[ABR173rd]

I think the main issues everyone has could be resolved by simply not pre-ordering Madden next year. If every member at OS that usually buys Madden-(Most Preorder) could hold off on pre-ordering the game, that alone could force EA into a position to either release a better product or at-least take the core fan base seriously.

Most people would not be able to just not purchase the game, numbers will decline but not big enough numbers soon enough to invoke change. When the "Suits" at EA get the pre-order numbers and realize they are down dramatically from the previous year, that would at least send a message.

I would still have purchased Madden this year, just not have pre-ordered it if wasn't for the promos going on. With the way technology is these days it would be to easy for us as consumers to make a small adjustment to our yearly Madden spending habit by delaying it a week. Just a thought.

[DustinT]

Oh, it's this thread again.