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ESPN takes a hard hit.

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BuckWrestler141

BuckWrestler141

Legend
'18 Bowl Mania Champ
Since us Buckeye fans all want to see ESPN suffer right now figured you'd enjoy this.

P.S. i'm actually saddened, I prefered the series and its price, and hate the idea of a monopoly.

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Electronic Arts, the leading maker of sports video games, signed an exclusive five-year contract with the National Football League and the NFL Players Association, deals that will give the company sole possession of the licensed football video game business.



<!-- BEGIN INLINE UNIT --><IFRAME align=center marginWidth=0 marginHeight=0 src="http://adsatt.espn.go.com/ad/sponsors/utilities/espn/adslug_120_160.html" frameBorder=0 width=1 scrolling=no height=12></IFRAME>


<!-- END INLINE UNIT -->The partnership, which will commence with the publishing of Electronic Arts' Madden game next August, eliminates the competitive battle EA endured this year with ESPN's NFL 2K5 game, a joint venture between Sega and Take-Two Interactive. Without the use of team and player names, generic games have struggled for survival in the current environment
 
That actually really sucks because I love the ESPN NFL2K5 Football game and play it quite often. It's a shame that it's now done considering it was only $19.95. Disclaimer: this product was purchased way before ESPN's rampage on tOSU and in no way is an endorsement of any good work that company does :)
 
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BW141- Do you have a link to this? I had heard a rumor where EA was trying to do that last spring, but it ended up just being a rumor. I have a hard time imagining that the NFL would limit their licensing to such a degree.

I really hope that this is just a rumor.

Edit:
Yikes!

EA signed separate agreements with the NFL and Players Inc., a subsidiary of the National Football League Players Association. The parties did not disclose the financial arrangements of the deals.
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This will be interesting to see how it plays out.
 
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monopoly4kd.jpg
 
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Since the NFL is a private corp, it can license to whoever it wants. That's not illegal, any more than it's illegal for Tiger Woods to endorse one golf club and not all golf clubs. A monopoly is entirely different from an exclusive licensing agreement. Anyone can make a football game. Not everybody is licensed to display the NFL logo. That being said this isn't a good thing. However I think it opens the possiblity of ESPN getting back into the business of making college football games.
 
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Really bad news..I loved 2k5. It was a lot nicer then madden and cheaper.. Easy to see why EA wants espn out of the race..But on a better note that just leads me to believe that their college football will be a lot better then Ea's ... Honestly it wouldn't take a lot,and i'll be happy to see a new layout for a college football game.
 
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Here's a post from an EA rep at MaddenPlanet:

EASO Nathan said:
Guys,

I have been going to the various fan sites reading the reactions to this news. I have been making basically the same post to all the forums. The main thing I have been saying is not to worry about the game quality going down hill.

The crew at Tiburon are just as dedicated to making the best football game possible.

EA didn't do this a reaction to Sega or any other developer. The NFL and Player's Association went to several different developers wanting to ink an exclusive deal. We have an excellent relationship with these two groups (e.g. 15 years of making Madden) and they went with us.

Both the NFL and the Player's Association are expecting a lot from us as well. Innovation and game play will not suffer.
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Here's my take on it, that I posted in that site's thread:

Me said:
As much as I personally dislike this decision by the NFL, I still try to look at things objectively. Here are some of my thoughts as they relate to specific concerns mentioned in this thread:

Game Price- This area will likely remain where it has, around $50. I think that what has been mentioned in the articles is that EA's price margins went down because of ESPN's low prices. Being the only provider of NFL videogames, EA will now be able to forecast their revenues based on their normal price margins. Additional expenses, per game, that are needed to pay for this licensing deal will likely come from games that are sold to former ESPN buyers (excluding those that didn't already purchase both games.) Thus, the additional licensing expense will be covered by an expanded sales base (supply and demand.) Also, EA might dump the "Madden" name and offset their costs by saving money that normally goes to him via royalties. Why pay Madden when you've got all of the money tied up in the "NFL" licensing?

Online Pricing- Basic online play will likely remain free. I'm sure that both MS and Sony (and probably even EA) want this, so this won't require additional expense. Deluxe subscription programs will also probably remain the same, around $20. If anything, they will probably add a lower-tier program or two, as well (like $5-$15.) Again, needed revenues will come from new users resulting from the expanded sales base.

Complacency- No, I don't believe that the sky will fall in this category either. "Why?" you ask... because EA has too much incentive (ie. capital and future investments) in this deal to just sit on their hands. First, it sounds as though as part of their bidding process, EA had to show the NFL their planned evolution for the game. So they've already set expectations with the NFL that, at a minimum, they need to achieve. The NFL probably has a breach of contract clause that they can implement if EA doesn't meet contractual obligations.

Secondly, if customers complain to the NFL that EA is supplying a lame product, then the NFL will not renew their license in 5 years, and might even give the license to a competitor. No professional sports league is run as shrewdly or carefully as the NFL, and they won't tolerate any actions that negatively impact their image within their fanbase. The NFL understands that a bad videogame might turn a their most preferred demographics group (18 - 36 year olds) away from them, and they won't allow that to happen.

Third, part of the deal stipulates that EA will gain additional film footage and other NFL properties to which they don't presently have access. This also demonstrates that new features are already being planned for use in future versions.

Lastly, with the anticipated launching of the next generation game systems, the NFL will want to have one of the top selling games. I believe that, if anything, this actually puts a ton of pressure on EA. EA will need to step up, or their future with the NFL could become very difficult.
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