****ing EA Pusses out. Buys NFL Publishing Rights.

[LTM360]

EA and NFL ink exclusive licensing deal
Five-year agreement gives EA sole rights to the NFL, including teams, players, and stadiums; deal sure to reshape sports gaming.

Electronic Arts has signed the biggest sports free-agent on the market. In a devastating blow to competitors, the software giant has signed an exclusive deal with the National Football League and the NFL Players Inc., a subsidiary of the NFL Players Association. The deal is an exclusive five-year licensing deal granting EA the sole rights to the NFL's teams, stadiums, and players.

The arrangement encompasses action simulation, arcade style, and manager games made for PCs, consoles, and handhelds, giving EA a firm hold on the football gaming market. The deal does not include titles for mobile phones or internet-based games, but does include online features of consoles. With next-generation consoles scheduled for release next holiday season, EA looks to handily dominate the professional football market for the duration of the license.

"We are excited about the opportunity to further enhance our relationship with the NFL and PLAYERS INC," said Larry Probst, Chairman and CEO of Electronic Arts. "The five-year agreements will usher NFL fans through the console technology transition with new ideas and innovative game play experiences."

EA's current roster of NFL games includes the top-selling Madden franchise and the extreme football NFL Street franchise.

The deal is obviously bad news for EA's competitors, particularly ESPN Videogames and Sega, who stole a respectable chunk of EA's Madden football market with their NFL 2K series and it's budget price tag this year of $19.99.

On trading nearly three times it usual amount, EA stock was up more than $3 today. The stock closed at $57.57, up $3.38 or 6.24 percent with 16,574,606 shares trading hands on the NASDAQ. In after hours trading, the stock at press time had jumped another $2.88 to trade at $60.45.

By Tim Surette -- GameSpot
POSTED: 12/13/04 02:53 PM PST

Go suck a nut you *******s. You know damn good and well Sega/VC game was better, so you do this. Go **** yourself you *******s.

[AlphaCigara]

Damn, i was looking forward to next years espn nfl 2k6...oh well

[LiquidX]

Well... maybe Sega can popularize college football. Or just have made up players/teams/stadiums. I would kill to play as the Dallas Bullmen... even though I dont play sports games at all.

[RockTheCasba]

dangit i wanted 2k6

[lllusion]

Awwwwwww mannnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn@@!!!!

now we should really BOYCOTT EAGAMES... arghhh

[Huckleberry]

this is VERY bad news. well...looks like i'll be playing 2k5 for the next 5 years. it's pretty inconceiveable to me that ea could wield that kind of power in comparison to espn. i hope this turns out to not be true.

[Xer0Mercy]

Sounds good to me. Madden kicked 2K5's ass anyway. Everyone liked 2K5 just because it was cheaper.

[Snowblind]

Sounds good to me. Madden kicked 2K5's ass anyway. Everyone liked 2K5 just because it was cheaper.

No, everyone liked ESPN 2K5 because it was "better".


Boycott t3h EA, who's with me?

[LTM360]

No, everyone liked ESPN 2K5 because it was "better".


Boycott t3h EA, who's with me?

I woulda gladly payed $50 for NFL and NBA... ESPN... much better games. That's why people liked ESPN better.

[BananaMan]

madden isn't that bad, but it's pretty low of them to do that.

[wbio]

This sucks, I really don't like the feel of the Madden games, but it looks like I'll be forced to buy them now. I hate EA.

[Wolf]

i thought madden was better than ESPN anyway, so this is cool with me.

[Yankeez]

I'm hooked to madden, and at least espn can still make a nba game with everything in it hehe

[super_ryu]

I liked the Madden games because to me, they seemed more realistic than any other football game. ESPN is good too, but I prefer madden

[faceoff508]

**** you EA. I loved the 2k5 series, I ****ing loved it. It has some flaws.. yes but I loved it. No matter how ****ing good madden (which its not) I would have bought 2Kseries. God damn i was looking forward to 2k6 now i have to buy Madden 2006. And I will probably will be forced to because I love football games. EA go and buy sega you ****ing money whore.

[Snowblind]

Yea, but how long before EA buys the NBA publishing rights. EA is going to piss a lot of people off.

Besides, the only good sports game from EA is MVP Baseball 2004.

[Slowride]

Well someone mentioned they should popularize college football, however EA has already cornered that market with a great college game.

EA sucks for doing this though.

[Huckleberry]

not only am i not buying madden, i'm writing to the nfl to let them know it. it's absolutely stupid of them to create such a monopoly. with nothing to push ea like 2k5 did, why would we ever get a better product?

[BananaMan]

not only am i not buying madden, i'm writing to the nfl to let them know it. it's absolutely stupid of them to create such a monopoly. with nothing to push ea like 2k5 did, why would we ever get a better product?

and you know what the nfl will do? if it's a letter, right to the trash; if it's an email, they'll just delete it. it's all about the money.

[MixMasta]

I think Sega should just keep releasing roster updates via XBL. Maybe since 2K5 was released prior to the contract, it be could be like a loop hole in the system. At least we could have new players lol.