EA Still Owns the NFL License Exclusively

[SageInfinite]

Re: EA Still Owns the NFL License Exclusively

I understand the whole being mad about how it panned out and there being no competition to push the games forward, I hate that too. But let's be realistic and stop trying to villainize EA for doing what made the most sense and benefited their company. We all would have done the same thing had we been put into that position

Not really. Everyone isn't motivated by pure greed. Business is business so I understand the move, but as a gamer/consumer it's trash. If they gave us the best product they could after the fact, it'd be a totally different story. They made themselves the villain.

[BizDevConglomerate]

Why doesn't someone, who is super wealthy, just jump on board with 2K, and purchase the rights from the NFL, and make the DAMN game already? Rich people do play videogames too...(maybe)
You look at rich people around the world, throwing away money like a Kleenex, everyday ie. Big parties, a dozen fancy cars; 3 or more Mistress'; failing Major League franchises; Crappy restaurant chains! Why can't they give Us something that resembles the NFL? (my plea) lol
Well, madden it is.
cheers

It's time to flood Cam Newton on Twitter and tell him to incest. I'm sure he'd want his own Cam Newton's NFL Football. Leigh Steinberg also has a gaming division. Then there is always the makers of backbreaker to come to the NextGen systems.

[Big FN Deal]

Re: EA Still Owns the NFL License Exclusively

Not really. Everyone isn't motivated by pure greed. Business is business so I understand the move, but as a gamer/consumer it's trash. If they gave us the best product they could after the fact, it'd be a totally different story. They made themselves the villain.

Church on Friday night, lol. I don't understand the whole notion that just because securing the exclusive was good business, creating Madden the way they have since then is too.

Some people seem to not understand that those of us that are frustrated really couldn't care less about the exclusive, it's the fact that the only licensed game doesn't offer the experience we want. If Madden were a NFL version of The Show, there would be relatively very few gamers clamoring for competition or an end to the exclusive. I don't see social media a buzz with gamers wanting another baseball game to compete with The Show.

[BizDevConglomerate]

Some key points you are wrong about. EA bought the rights to keep NCAA football exclusive as well, so 2k couldn't have made a college football game if they had wanted to.

The NCAA decided that it wanted too much money up front for the college basketball titles. While there was never an exclusive agreement signed for NCAA basketball by either party, the cost was so high that it would not justify any game company wasting resources due to the low sales volume that both the EA and 2Ks had.

The NCAA killed any future basketball titles itself, well before the court case had anything to do with college athletics.

Damn the NCAA is really evil. But I'm saying make a game. With out licensing. Give roster control and team editing to us. Then they move out the way. Make a generic copy of the real thing. That's simple.

[Robo COP]

Re: EA Still Owns the NFL License Exclusively

Not really. Everyone isn't motivated by pure greed. Business is business so I understand the move, but as a gamer/consumer it's trash. If they gave us the best product they could after the fact, it'd be a totally different story. They made themselves the villain.

......So if you were the owner of said business and you had a means to ensure your product remained profitable by limiting the competition you wouldn't do it? Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight.

And I already acknowledged that deal sucked for us as a consumer. I hate the Madden series now. I merely said that if anyone else; me, you, Santa Claus, anyone! was put in the same situation as EA of course they would have made the same decision. Obviously the development team has not done a good job, but EA made the correct decision and anyone who wouldn't have bought out the licensing like EA did has no business sense whatsoever.

It's hysterical to me that you guys are throwing around that EA was "scared" of 2Ks advancement. Of course they were concerned about it! Just like 2K was "scared" that madden was going to cut into their profits. And "scared" that they would buy out the rights

It's just funny how you guys are trying to use the word "scared" as somehow another way to bash EA. Like "Oh man! They were so scared! Big old EA was so afraid! Wet their pants and bought out the licensing! LOLOLOLOLOL" Just stop...please....stop...You sound absolutely ridiculous

[ForUntoOblivionSoar∞]

Re: EA Still Owns the NFL License Exclusively

While there has some some question as to the status of the exclusivity of the Madden license, owing to the fact the last mention of the license by EA only said there were a number of years left on it with no mention of exclusivity. That was never a guarantee that the license wasn't exclusive, as EA hadn't mentioned in official documents that the license was either extended or exclusive since the initial deal -- the news of the prior extension was never fully confirmed by EA.

Expecting a different approach where EA held a pomp and circumstance parade has led to a rash of unfounded rumors that another competitor, namely 2K, was developing a football game. There was even an unfounded expectation that 2K might even debut a football title at E3.

However, the biggest news to come out of the 2K camp at E3 might have been Ronnie2K confirming that not only was 2K not working on a football game, but that the license was still exclusively owned by 'someone else.'

This isn't surprising, considering the NFL license being open for other partners would have almost certainly leaked by now by someone. The current deal's term length which has been widely speculated and rumored is that Madden still has two to three years in its current deal, pushing the game well into this new generation.

It still remains unlikely, even if the license was open, that a competitor could rise up to compete with Madden in any reasonable amount of time given the more advanced needs of today's sports gaming audience. Thus, given the license's current status, it is possible that any possible competitor wouldn't be ready for release for at least 18-24 months after the license was actually acquired by someone, which puts the most reasonable timeframe for a Madden competitor at least four to five years from now, if ever. The most likely scenario remains that EA and Madden will remain the only major NFL gaming option on big box consoles for the foreseeable future.

Well, if that's true that kind of makes a certain Madden exec seem a little less than genuine. To be honest it kind of psses me off.

[SageInfinite]

Re: EA Still Owns the NFL License Exclusively

......So if you were the owner of said business and you had a means to ensure your product remained profitable by limiting the competition you wouldn't do it? Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight.

I would do everything in my power to make sure we had the superior product. My money would go into my product not into ensuring a license so the quality of my product suffers as well as my old and new costumers. I'd make my consumers forget the competition through quality, not licensing. If I did somehow eliminate competition through licensing, I damn sure wouldn't have people clamoring for competition back every chance they got because my product was subpar/mediocre.

Everybody doesn't think like that man.

[BayRaider510]

Re: EA Still Owns the NFL License Exclusively

If you watch the video, listen to what HHG says before Rex issues the challenge. HHG askes "IF" the license was open, what you would say. He posed it as a hypothetical.

He told 2K to "buy the license" and make a game though. How would they buy the license if it's exclusive?

Just an empty challenge. Don't know how anyone can respect EA Sports, at least the Madden division anyways. This game hasn't been good since 2005 where as MLB The Show and NBA 2K have thrived to make some of the best sports games ever produced over the past several years. Sadly, I'll continue to buy Madden because the NFL and Video Games are two of my biggest passions and need an NFL game to play.

[JaymeeAwesome]

Re: EA Still Owns the NFL License Exclusively

Good luck posting your improvements as if they'll happen. I'm strong enough to not buy a Madden game even if it means no virtual football. How? I go play real football, or I play better sport sims like MLB The Show and NBA 2k. No competition is bad for games. I'm rooting for NBA Live to be competitive and I hope EA has the balls to put out a baseball game to compete with MLB The Show. Madden-free since Madden 08 and damn proud. How they still don't have stuff in the game NFL 2k5 had on PS2/Xbox, I don't know, but I, as well as many, have learned not to trust Madden, especially when it has nothing to lose since people keep buying it. If you must buy Madden, buy it used.

I don't think EA could make a baseball game. I believe 2k still owns the 3rd party rights to MLB. Microsoft would have to make it.

[JaymeeAwesome]

Re: EA Still Owns the NFL License Exclusively

I would do everything in my power to make sure we had the superior product. My money would go into my product not into ensuring a license so the quality of my product suffers as well as my old and new costumers. I'd make my consumers forget the competition through quality, not licensing. If I did somehow eliminate competition through licensing, I damn sure wouldn't have people clamoring for competition back every chance they got because my product was subpar/mediocre.

Everybody doesn't think like that man.

I would have to say you wouldn't make a good business man. Shareholders and members of the board care about one thing...$$$$$. If they heard that you had an opportunity to wipe out the competition and increase your margins, and you told them "I'll just make a better product", you would be fired immediately.

All your responses are consumer minded. Brand recognition and marketing are what's keeping EA profitable, and that's all the Execs want. Money.

...and as a side note, have you not seen what M15 looks like. For the third game, in a stated 3 year cycle, it has improved. As long as they don't rip and replace next year, the future looks a little brighter.

[SageInfinite]

Re: EA Still Owns the NFL License Exclusively

I would have to say you wouldn't make a good business man. Shareholders and members of the board care about one thing...$$$$$. If they heard that you had an opportunity to wipe out the competition and increase your margins, and you told them "I'll just make a better product", you would be fired immediately.

All your responses are consumer minded. Brand recognition and marketing are what's keeping EA profitable, and that's all the Execs want. Money.

...and as a side note, have you not seen what M15 looks like. For the third game, in a stated 3 year cycle, it has improved. As long as they don't rip and replace next year, the future looks a little brighter.

You're entitled to you opinion.

[JaymeeAwesome]

Re: EA Still Owns the NFL License Exclusively

You're entitled to you opinion.

This opinion has some knowledge of business behind it though. It's one of the reasons Steve Jobs was thrown out of apple in the 90s. Now the moral of the Jobs story fits your opinion of how you would run things and be successful, but that's an exception and not the rule. Not many people are Steve Jobs.

[spankdatazz22]

Re: EA Still Owns the NFL License Exclusively

I would have to say you wouldn't make a good business man. Shareholders and members of the board care about one thing...$$$$$. If they heard that you had an opportunity to wipe out the competition and increase your margins, and you told them "I'll just make a better product", you would be fired immediately.

All your responses are consumer minded. Brand recognition and marketing are what's keeping EA profitable, and that's all the Execs want. Money.

...and as a side note, have you not seen what M15 looks like. For the third game, in a stated 3 year cycle, it has improved. As long as they don't rip and replace next year, the future looks a little brighter.

I don't completely disagree, but understand Sage's point. The situation is somewhat similar to what Microsoft was doing when it was consolidating it's power base; it squashed competition. Until the government stepped in to slow their anti-competitive ways. People hated Microsoft for many of it's business practices. If Microsoft could eliminate Apple, should it? If Microsoft had eliminated Apple, do products like the iPhone or iPad ever get created? For sure, technology doesn't evolve in the way it has. Apple wasn't always the monster it is now - it was a big deal when Microsoft invested $150million to help prop up Apple (but mainly to keep the government off it's back for it's anti-competitive ways):

http://news.cnet.com/2100-1001-202143.html

In the end it benefited both companies as they pushed themselves to make better products. Microsoft isn't anywhere near as reviled as it used to be, in part because they've made good products to make up for "what might've been".

Imo EA was following that same blueprint, but they haven't stepped up to make a superior product. They did what they did to kill competition, but they never did what they needed to make people forget/move on. This situation is solely their own fault. I was a huge 2K football fan and I'm bitter about what EA did. But like many others I would purchase both games because there were things in either I liked/disliked. Most people would've moved on if EA/Tiburon had done like other companies and stepped up to the plate - they haven't. Anytime I see people say "but Madden's getting better!"... it's supposed to get better. The question is where should it be. I have to post this:

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/rsWA2a-k5DI" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Look at the interaction. Look at how organic the player movement and interaction is. Look at the sideline interaction. Listen to the play-by-play. Go to the 5:16mark and look at the replay presentation. Then understand, this isn't where Madden is (imo) even now - nor where it should be, which is 7yrs and a next gen console generation beyond this. This isn't even a licensed game, nor was it a fully 2K-efforted endeavor. That's why some people get bitter. And it's made to be worse when you have a the guy in charge of Madden puffing his chest out like they've accomplished something, and making hollow challenges.

[SageInfinite]

Re: EA Still Owns the NFL License Exclusively

This opinion has some knowledge of business behind it though. It's one of the reasons Steve Jobs was thrown out of apple in the 90s. Now the moral of the Jobs story fits your opinion of how you would run things and be successful, but that's an exception and not the rule. Not many people are Steve Jobs.

Like I said, you're entitled to your opinion, but the fact is neither you or I know how successful I would be if I were in the position. I just know my product would speak for itself.

[iamgramps]

Re: EA Still Owns the NFL License Exclusively

This was a hypothetical question posed which caused for a hypothetical response. If 2k could purchase the license, that would be his response. The key word is if. Why ridicule this man for speaking hypothetically?