Madden NFL 15 News Post

EA Still Owns the NFL License Exclusively

11:32 AM - June 13, 2014 by RaychelSnr

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.

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Member Comments

# 161 videlsports @ 06/14/14 11:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MMChrisS


	Not sure why everyone is up in arms about Rex answering a question posed entirely hypothetically with an entirely hypothetical challenge to an entirely hypothetical opponent. If he had said no comment, got a feeling same people would be up in arms about that too...

Rex said he welcomes competion but knowing 2k can't make a game yet, once this madness of exclusivty ends we will see.. I mean 2K sports has one title and they still hang around. Rex just put a bullseye on EA by issuing a fake challange

# 162 bukktown @ 06/14/14 11:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CM Hooe


	They have game designers because they are making a video game. There's plenty to design with respect to control scheme, user interface, gameplay mechanics at the per-player level, gameplay balancing of all the ratings and how they affect each interaction, game modes, artificial intelligence for players in various assignments / AI play calling / AI roster management, flow through the game from screen to screen, and so on. The rules of football alone don't provide enough guidance to make a complete product.

I don't know what other words to use to describe it but over-designed.
Maybe they don't have too many designers, just bad ones?

# 163 videlsports @ 06/14/14 11:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rams_3


	Boo this man

100 percent agree with Ram 3

# 164 bukktown @ 06/14/14 11:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kaiser Wilhelm


	If his position is anything like that which David Sears held, his job isn't to code, but to go back and forth between the dev team and "management." I don't know the details of his job but it isn't unprecedented that a talented developer being put into a position where he never actually codes. As for there being nothing to "design" you are sadly mistaken. How do you think you "copy" football? Just take a copier to a football game and somehow absorb it into code? You have to design the code, you have to design the physics engine, you have to design the franchise mode, the rules, and AI logic, ect, ect. There is no way to "copy" football. Video gaming is an illusion! It's an illusion to replicate reality! You have to go through careful design to create an illusion. If you think NFL2k, NBA 2k, MLB THE SHOW, NHL 14, FIFA 14, etc are anything more than the illusion of reality, you're wrong. They just do it better. If you want to question the designers, then you need to question their decisions and execution, but not the quantity. The fact of the matter is we only ever receive the finished product and to my knowledge only one member of this community has first hand experience of how the actual process works.

Football has so many aspects that are already "game designed". One example is a QB's read progression. High to low, in to out, for example. The QB coach or offensive coordinator has already developed the "flow chart" and "conditionals" that control the QB reads and route progressions. There is no need for a designer to change that other than bandwidth and transistor limitations.

And there is no excuse to "design" how human beings run the way that madden does!

# 165 HingleMcCringleberry @ 06/15/14 12:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bukktown


	I don't know what other words to use to describe it but over-designed. Maybe they don't have too many designers, just bad ones?

I would say lazy development is a better description than simply bad development. It seems that they were literally trying to find every single way to make as much money as possible by doing as little as possible. Hence why every feature consistently gets removed and recycled 5 or so years down the road. This is also why they make every excuse as to why the game doesn't change and problems aren't addressed (3 year cycle?), and then finally, the classic EA bait and switch move.

Maybe changes are coming, however, to me it sounds like another classic hype train, soon to be followed by a honeymoon period, then everyone back to a new thread like this 3-4 years from now discussing exclusivity all over again. All I know is i'm done with madden. No 3 year plan, no 5 year plan, done... Sure beats having this discussion during the offseason every year.

# 166 tsbmolina @ 06/15/14 12:13 AM

Has anyone stopped to consider maybe 2K intentionally did not want the rights quite yet and let EA grab the exclusivity for 2-3 more years because 2K knew that's how long it would take them to develop a game. Perhaps they are timing it so that when the deal comes back up they will be ready with a game. Why on earth would 2K buy what's an expensive license this year and not have a game ready until 2016?

# 167 HingleMcCringleberry @ 06/15/14 12:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tsbmolina


	Has anyone stopped to consider maybe 2K intentionally did not want the rights quite yet and let EA grab the exclusivity for 2-3 more years because 2K knew that's how long it would take them to develop a game. Perhaps they are timing it so that when the deal comes back up they will be ready with a game. Why on earth would 2K buy what's an expensive license this year and not have a game ready until 2016?

It is possible, though I wouldn't hold my breath. Both EA and the NFL are two power hungry corporations that don't seem to care about the consumer at all. The execs only care about lining their own pockets with an extra few zeros on their bonus checks. As long as the money is still there for both of them, nothing will change.

# 168 tsbmolina @ 06/15/14 12:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HingleMcCringleberry


	It is possible, though I wouldn't hold my breath. Both EA and the NFL are two power hungry corporations that don't seem to care about the consumer at all. The execs only care about lining their own pockets with an extra few zeros on their bonus checks. As long as the money is still there for both of them, nothing will change.

Good point but my question is what if 2K offered to pay what EA is paying for the license and double what the NFL is banking for the license from 30-50 million for one developer to 60-100 million for two developers. Would the NFL be so in love with EA to not take the money? I think not!

# 169 24 @ 06/15/14 12:54 AM

This wouldn't be as depressing if It wasn't for the fact that EA continually puts out an average product. The New Madden's are never great but they are never terrible either. They are just in between. I popped in 2K5 into my 360 today and played a quick game. While The graphics were little dated (That's to be expected considering it's 10 years old) It certainly didn't look bad. It played amazingly well and once the game was finished I was satsified that I got an adequate Football gaming experience.

I throw in Madden 25 into my PS4, and While I enjoyed the game I played, I kept looking for something more. That's the way I've felt about Madden since 2009. The game itself is good, It's just missing something.

# 170 kjcheezhead @ 06/15/14 01:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tsbmolina


	Has anyone stopped to consider maybe 2K intentionally did not want the rights quite yet and let EA grab the exclusivity for 2-3 more years because 2K knew that's how long it would take them to develop a game. Perhaps they are timing it so that when the deal comes back up they will be ready with a game. Why on earth would 2K buy what's an expensive license this year and not have a game ready until 2016?

I suppose it's possible but 2k knew the license was up after this year. It would've made more sense to approach the NFL two years ago so their game would be ready now when the ps4 and Xbox1 one are just getting started. EA had to recode or port madden to these consoles so this is about as level of a playing field as they could hope for.

I think this was our last realistic window for a competitor. I'm a little surprised the NFL would go exclusive for so long. EA holds are the cards when negotiating the price now. This isn't apparel where Nike can replace Reebok in a month or so. But the NFL must know something I don't. They're pretty good at making money.

# 171 Jerros @ 06/15/14 02:18 AM

Simple formula for 2k to get back into making football games. Make a fully customizable game with realistic graphics. You can get around the license issue by allowing gamers to re-create the NFL through total customization. Add in full player editing such as skin tones, hairstyles and facial features along with the other stuff such as weight, height and stats and you're set. This would allow the gamer to re-create a player's likness. Facial scans wouldn't matter because football players are in the helmets most of the time anyway. But FULL customization like BackBreaker and you have a brand new NFL game without the license. Plain and simple, no more excuses. I have an extensive write up about this with a ton of features that would make this game potenitally revolutionary. We all know they have the graphics engine. Either they want to make a game or they just no longer care. But there's really no excuse in my eyes. Move on, EA has the license, time for 2k to exploit the customization loophole and give us a game.

# 172 CM Hooe @ 06/15/14 02:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kjcheezhead


	I'm a little surprised the NFL would go exclusive for so long.

The NFL is far from a stranger to exclusivity agreements - be it apparel, beer, soda, credit cards, or anything else. Not sure why the NFL continuing an exclusive arrangement in video games which continues to prove lucrative for the league would surprise anyone.

# 173 CM Hooe @ 06/15/14 02:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bukktown


	I don't know what other words to use to describe it but over-designed. Maybe they don't have too many designers, just bad ones?

From my perspective, Madden has historically (late 00s) endured problems due to inconsistency in game design. The best examples of this are the first few games on the 360, the game couldn't decide what it wanted to be. It had some elements of wanting to be a simulation, but juxtaposed with the implementation of weapons, the emphasis on RingBuilder, no concept whatsoever of teaching new users how to play the game, and an overall focus on the competitive online scene over all else, it was quite reasonable to question just how much the football actually mattered to the game Tiburon was making, vs. just wanting to make a culture piece and something for established tourney players, without making much of an effort to cultivate the Madden community on its own merits because, well, it was Madden and they didn't need to.

I think that Ian Cummings' team's lasting legacy on Madden franchise was redirecting that focus away from that online-only focus into in a direction more oriented towards realism and accessibility. Varying degrees of success each year, sure, but put any Madden before M10 side-by-side with any Madden after M10 and IMO the difference in overall cohesiveness and quality of the two eras of games is painfully obvious.

# 174 Jermaine76 @ 06/15/14 03:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SageInfinite


	That dude is hilarious.

That's a fact. He'll have you in tears laughing so hard.

# 175 PacMan3000 @ 06/15/14 03:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GiantBlue76


	Does anyone remember the online leagues in 2004? 2k announced online leagues with full website support for 2k5. This completely caught EA with their pants down. They did not support this in Madden. MAGICALLY - shortly after 2k launched their leagues, EA found the time, talent and energy to implement them as well using some sponsorship from Dodge or Chrysler. Imagine that... Once again, Tiburon needs their hand held to accomplish anything. They are not a good developer. They do not think of things on their own, they completely incapable of modeling their product off of the NFL (always inventing their own presentation) and every year the same things have to be re-written. Basically, like AJ Dembroski said in his twitter rant, we get lied to. Every year we listen to how this and that has been completely re-written so that it works now, only to be told the following year that this and that didn't work. WTF? You guys realize that zone coverage has been re-written supposedly every year since Madden 12. How many times do you have to rewrite the zone coverage to get it right? Tweaks, bug fixes and general enhancements absolutely yes. COmplete re-writes? This tells me what I already knew about the programmers writing the code. They struggle and, quite frankly, I firmly believe a lot of the stuff that's missing doesn't get done because they don't know how to do it. In past football games we got a complete game, without those things being touted on the back of the box. They were just assumed because you can't have a football game without the actual football stuff in it, right? Presentation has been re-done every single year, and it STILL isn't right. JUST COPY WHAT IS IN REAL LIFE!!! HOW HARD IS IT TO UNDERSTAND THAT???? NHL is doing it, FIFA has multiple broadcast teams, this is not rocket science. How are you supposed to advance your game significantly if you keep re-doing the same crap every year?

Great points. What you said in bold caught my eye. I think, even without what AJ said (I never caught his tweets personally) I think it's obvious to any football gaming fan that fans get lied to. I just don't believe it takes any developer--whose sole focus is to make football games every year--so long to implement elements or features of the game that replicate real football.

I'm not saying developing or coding a football game is easy. I'm just saying it doesn't require much creativity. You watch football games. You take notes. You speak to NFL players. You take notes. You speak to NFL coaches. You takes notes. Then, you simply replicate what you see and hear.

I mean, they aren't building games involving trolls and caves and mythical lands. It's football--and you've been doing it 25 years.

I actually am looking forward to Madden 15--probably the first football game I'm genuinely looking forward to since 2K5. But there's really no excuse to be so far behind not only your predecessor, but your current peers in sports gaming. And there's certainly no reason why you should be introducing features only to either abandon them or outright remove them.

Watch. Listen. Take notes. Replicate what you see and hear.

Simple.

# 176 Robo COP @ 06/15/14 03:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Big FN Deal


	Just out of curiosity, do you care about the facts or are you content believing what you believe? I only ask because if you care about the facts I'll try to find a links for you if not I'll just leave it be, as others have.

Lol. Go ahead and give me the facts their bub. I already know that the NFL supposedly took less money from EA, but it doesn't change the fact that there were offers from both companies on the table.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SageInfinite


	Lol. First off you don't know what I do outside of this site my man. Secondly you are entitled to your opinion, I'll leave it at that.

.....? So let's hear it then "my man."

It's easy to pretend like you know more information without actually revealing any of that information. Good job. You totally just won the argument by being condescending while never really revealing you know squat about what happened. You just insinuated you did.

Great point. My man. I look forward to you actually contributing your knowledge. Unless you really are just going to leave it at that? I mean, if you really do know more about it, wouldn't it benefit us all if you shared this information?

# 177 Robo COP @ 06/15/14 03:58 AM

EDIT: Double post

# 178 tsbmolina @ 06/15/14 06:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kjcheezhead


	I suppose it's possible but 2k knew the license was up after this year. It would've made more sense to approach the NFL two years ago so their game would be ready now when the ps4 and Xbox1 one are just getting started. EA had to recode or port madden to these consoles so this is about as level of a playing field as they could hope for. I think this was our last realistic window for a competitor. I'm a little surprised the NFL would go exclusive for so long. EA holds are the cards when negotiating the price now. This isn't apparel where Nike can replace Reebok in a month or so. But the NFL must know something I don't. They're pretty good at making money.

Not necessarily because remember with a new system comes new development tools and it would have been impossible for 2K to know what the PS4 and Xbox One would be capable of 2 years ago. Now 2K knows and now they can start working on a new game. Also consider the fact that the install base for these systems are very small now and will be much greater two years from now. Why invest in such an expensive license now with little chance of recouping cost and selling as many copies then you would 2 years from now when the install base will be much greater, you can only sell as many copies as there are systems sold. Smart business would dictate be patient and attack when the odds are on your side.

# 179 mmorg @ 06/15/14 07:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KingofATL


	Plain and simple.... EA Sports is a Great White Shark and 2K Sports are guppies in the world of video gaming. No way 2K Sports is in any financial state to compete to buy into the license. If you break it down... 2K Sports only real successful game is NBA 2K. No way they have the same kind of deep pockets EA has. Money always makes things move and unfortunately 2K doesn't have enough capitol to stomp with the big boys. It is the nature of the beast. It's all comes down to money at the end of the day.

2k sports is a subsidiary of a company with some pretty deep pockets themselves. It's not some operation run out of some guys garage.

# 180 HealyMonster @ 06/15/14 07:43 AM

So we knew EA held the license, and basically knew no other company owned the license to make a game, therefore EA exclusively owns the license. That doesn't nessecarily mean it's the same exclusive license that they have had for 10 years. 2k may not have gotten back into the game, and they may not ever, but I don't think we can say with 100% certainty that we know what is possible or what the specific details are regarding the nfl license and video games.

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