No way is that possible, just by factoring the millions who buy this game every year. I'm positive it's the other way around, especially on 360 since you have to have Gold to play. XBL puts out numbers that sound high, but the question is... how many of those users have Gold? And then how many of those Gold members actually bought Madden? As you go down that tunnel the number possibility begins to shrink significantly.
I think the online thing with Madden being this huge deal is something that people who play online a lot think is a bigger deal than it is. I'm sure enough play online to make online features a priority at least, but not enough to make it a bigger priority than any of the other glaring issues that everyone can see.
And this is where I really get confused about why so much effort was put into Online Dynasty mode for NCAA. I mean, NCAA isn't doing anywhere near the numbers Madden is, and if the shrinking occurs by process of elimination like I described for a game that sells millions like Madden, what does that number look like for a game that only sells in the hundred thousands like NCAA?
Online Franchises and dynasties... all these things are very hard to do and call on the resources of too many things that could be better spent in places where more than 90% of the people buying the game are going to be involved in.
And oh yeah, I neither care about playing online or online franchise and if online franchise existed I doubt I'd ever use it. Actually, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't. These are hardcore things, and the hardcore group is very small. You then take that to the online arena and it gets smaller. It's reality. The demand is not there but from a very, very, very small few compared to the millions who will be buying this game.