Operation Sports Forums - View Single Post - A Profitable Business Model as it relates to the Madden series

PlyrzNumber1 · 03-30-2009, 05:25 AM

Does anybody ever think that, no matter how hard Ian tries (and it certainly looks like he's trying), he has more obstacles than he can overcome?

Think about it.

EA paid 9 figures for NFL exclusivity. Also, every summer, Madden ads/commercials start to appear on expensive prime time TV spots, on most popular channels, with the leagues biggest stars promoting the game. We're probably talking high 7 figures, in terms of their marketing budget.

Right off the bat, EA is probably paying close to $300M a year, in marketing alone (I'm clumping their exclusive deal in with this budget).

How much budget do you think is left to add consumer-friendly components to the game? When I say consumer-friendly components, I'm talking about things like:

- industry leading developers
- latest tools and technology (for their developers)
- better quality assurance teams
- innovation; just look at all the cool things Blizzard is doing with their IPs (a company that has won business by developing a quality product; not strong arming the competition, and having a bigger marketing budget)
- and all of the other benefits that come with having more time (more staff = more time).

Ian has ambitious goals, and seems like a smart guy, with great intentions, but, how much are the executives at EA providing him with, in terms of resources, to create a remarkable product?

If EA is extremely profitable (with a mediocre product; with more money being invested in buying out competition, and advertising the product) does it make any fiscal sense for them to invest in increasing the quality of the product?

And if they're as profitable as their annual reports say they're, can we really expect anything to change year-to-year?

03-30-2009, 05:25 AM	#1
PlyrzNumber1 Banned OVR: 8 Join Date: Oct 2003	A Profitable Business Model as it relates to the Madden series Does anybody ever think that, no matter how hard Ian tries (and it certainly looks like he's trying), he has more obstacles than he can overcome? Think about it. EA paid 9 figures for NFL exclusivity. Also, every summer, Madden ads/commercials start to appear on expensive prime time TV spots, on most popular channels, with the leagues biggest stars promoting the game. We're probably talking high 7 figures, in terms of their marketing budget. Right off the bat, EA is probably paying close to $300M a year, in marketing alone (I'm clumping their exclusive deal in with this budget). How much budget do you think is left to add consumer-friendly components to the game? When I say consumer-friendly components, I'm talking about things like: - industry leading developers - latest tools and technology (for their developers) - better quality assurance teams - innovation; just look at all the cool things Blizzard is doing with their IPs (a company that has won business by developing a quality product; not strong arming the competition, and having a bigger marketing budget) - and all of the other benefits that come with having more time (more staff = more time). Ian has ambitious goals, and seems like a smart guy, with great intentions, but, how much are the executives at EA providing him with, in terms of resources, to create a remarkable product? If EA is extremely profitable (with a mediocre product; with more money being invested in buying out competition, and advertising the product) does it make any fiscal sense for them to invest in increasing the quality of the product? And if they're as profitable as their annual reports say they're, can we really expect anything to change year-to-year? Last edited by PlyrzNumber1; 03-30-2009 at 05:55 AM.