Not to get off on a tangent but I seriously do not believe Madden 2005 was rehashed crap. Also, ESPN sold really well this year so I doubt that had much to do with it. I think I see one point you make though that is probably valid, crap or not, Madden has been around longer than any other game and the NFL probably decided that was a big factor in being "comfortable" with the deal, that is assuming Segas bid was anywhere near what EA's bid was.
Remember the NFL also just recently gave the NFL Sunday Ticket deal to DirecTV and didn't even really consider cable bids from what I understand, that's because the NFL Sunday Ticket has been on DirecTV for years and made the NFL alot of money so there's a certain comfort factor there. So although I completely disagree EA puts out rehashed crap every year your arguement does ring of some truth in the fact EA's been doing it longer than anyone else and that probably is part of the reason they chose EA.