No, it's not a shadowy conspiracy, it's entirely overt. And I don't blame them for exercising market power either - any rational actor would do the same. However, that doesn't change the fact that exclusivity deals like this are bad for competition, and ultimately bad for the consumer. EA has flexed its muscle quite a bit, both on the labor side and on the distribution side, with hardball tactics If it keeps growing and keeps acting the same, it's going to get smacked down, and I won't mind that at all. Same for the NFL; they opt for the cheap payoff once again via exclusivity once again. I hope it bites them in the ass.
DITTO!!! I lost Inside Drive this year and was able to find a game I REALLY liked, thank god. I play basketball more than anything on my systems and, if the only choice I will have for now on is NBA Live, my XBOX & PS2 will be collecting ALOT of dust.
I saw this and this totally sux arse...I guess if you are willing to pay the big bucks, you can do this, but this monopoly has to stop...The ESPN/Sega sports games are far more superior and it is a disservice to consumers...but, this is one way to get rid of the competition...
I just read an article on CNN that states that the NFL pushed this by opening bidding for the license. Take Two/ESPN have been complaining that EA is in the wrong, but they put in a bid as well. So EA just outbid them. Looks like the NFL is to blame for openly bidding this out, not EA. They were almost forced into bidding high just to protect thier interests and to ensure they beat Take Two/ESPN.
Again, I am highly skeptical that EA had nothing to do them going exclusive, or that Sega/Take two had any chance of putting up a remotely competitive bid.
Blame the NFL for giving EA an exclusive license on their NFL Trademark, if blame is to be laid. There's no antitrust crap involved - mere hand waving. I guess the NFL decided that they didn't want the value of their trademark to erode by its continued association with the ESPN product (edit: but I admit this will likely result in a higher price for the game without the competition from the ESPN game makers. That's unfortunate)
ESPN always had better graphics and the presentation was also better IMO (at least last year it was) this is ridiculous!
Thats too bad...I've always enjoyed VC nfl2K5 more than Madden and I also like the competition between the two company. Guess I will be playing NFL2K5 for the next five years. Damn EA and the NFL!!!
Console NFL football hit its zenith with Techmo Super Bowl, and has been in slow decline ever since. K sera.
I'm a diehard Madden fan...I just hope they don't slow down on the development of the game because of this. They have never let me down before. Here's something I read...didn't have a link, and I'm to lazy to go to IGN and find it... Gameplay is more important than both, IMO...that's why I stick with Madden. I also like the depth of the franchise, but I think ESPN is on about the same level.
The thing that is being ignored is that the NFL had the exclusive rihts on sale for about 2 years. They negotiated with EA, Sega, Midway, and Sony. EA just happened to come out on top. So someone was going to have the exclusive rights in the end. EA just paid more than anyone else. So as Clutch said in his post, if you want to be pissed at someone, the NFL is the logical target.
I guess one possible positive for those ESPN fans (like myself) is that EA had a similar deal with FIFA, I believe, and while their FIFA games did sell well initially, despite other games (I think the Winning Eleven series for example) being better, sales eventually evened out a bit (I think it the WE series actually got better sales at one point). Yeah, I don't know the exact details, but basically, it is possible for other games to compete with EA despite not having the offical licence, although maybe that license was different than this one. This does kind of leave the NFL in a strange situation though. Say Madden destroys the competition and the ESPN football games die, along with any other possible NFL game. What happens in 5 years when the deal is up? EA will most likely be the only company that has experience making NFL games, along with money to get the license, yet they won't have to outbid anyone else. They could pay the NFL much less at that time than they did this time (rumored $300+ million). I imagine the NFL could have gotten a better deal by just selling the rights to each of the football games being made, especially down the line if the above situation occurs. Yeah, the NFL sucks.
What are you talking about? Nobody said it was a conspiracy at all. For conspiracies, generally something has to be covert and illegal. The NFL likes to sign exclusive deals to go for the quick score and in general exploit its market power. EA likes to muscle out the competition using its' superior market power, and treats its workers the same way, etc. It's a match made in heaven. EA is about 10 times larger than its nearest competitior and has many times the available cash reserves. Anybody who thought that somebody else was likely to win the "auction" (especially if it happened two years ago - when Sega was running the show and not taketwo) was not being realistic. The only company that could have a chance would be financially beleagured Sony - which probably wouldn't have paid off for them given the lousy 989 sports brand name. Who cares really about those details though? The real problem is that we lose in the end. We pay higher prices for a product that isn't as good as it would have been. That's bad.
I think both companies suck. They are both logical targets. (Which I beleive is the point Clutch was making: he is pissed at both the NFL and EA.) EA has been pushing for exclusivity for years because they knew no competitors could compete with them in a bidding war. Open bidding or not, as long as EA could get exclusivity on the table they knew they would walk away with it. EA finally had real competition and used its substantial coffers to snuff it out (and keep margins high) while the NFL was likley not too happy with the price war which was bringing the combined cost of ESPN and Madden to the $44-50 range each game sold for the year before. Even now EA is trying to get the NBA and MLB to agree to do the same thing. So if/when EA outbids the competition for NBA exclusivity, I will be irked at both EA and the NBA.
This is what I'm talking about SamFisher. I think this is a conspiracy theory at best. Of course, anything that screws over ESPN is fine in my book. Of course, I also like Madden a lot, so maybe I'm just as biased as you are.
According to the Director of Corporate Communications for Electronic Arts: "We (EA) have proposed exclusivity several times in the past, but this year, in the spring the NFL had an off-site meeting, and they decided to consider bids for exclusivity," Brown told IGN in an exclusive interview. "Several bids were submitted but they accepted EA's. I cannot tell you how much this cost, but exclusivity is expensive, we are paying a premium. It wasn't cheap. I can tell you this, though, all parties all happy with this agreement, and Wall Street seems happy with it too." EA had been pushing for this. No conspiracy theory needed. They admit it. EA want's these auctions and is trying to get the NBA and MLB to do the same. Exclusivity is just one of EA's competitive strategies. They like to be the only game in town. Anyway, here's another article on this matter: Electronic Arts Shares Up on NFL Deal 12.14.2004, 12:25 PM Electronic Arts Inc. shares surged to an all-time high in Tuesday trading, a day after the top U.S. video-game maker said it scored exclusive licensing deals with the National Football League and its players' association. The agreements give EA, publisher of "Madden NFL 2005" and "NFL Street," exclusive rights to use NFL teams, stadiums and players in its football video games from 2005 until 2009. More importantly, the pact lets EA break away from other players in the intensely competitive video-game arena. That includes one of the company's chief rivals, Take-Two Interactive Software Inc., whose "ESPN NFL 2005" title has played underdog to "Madden" since the latest versions of the games were released this summer. In recent trading, shares of EA jumped 5.4 percent, or $3.11, to $60.68 on nearly three times its average volume, shooting past a record high of $58.90. Meanwhile, Take-Two slipped 5.8 percent, or $2.07, to $33.35, with more than twice the normal volume of shares changing hands. "This contract should allow EA to eliminate competition in the pro football category, hold premium pricing next year and raise prices for the next console cycle," Pacific Crest Securities analyst Evan Wilson wrote in a research note. "It should also alleviate some of the pressure to re-sign John Madden's contract at the end of the year." Although EA did not disclose financial terms of its deal, Wilson said it is "likely" that EA has doubled its royalty payment to the NFL from an estimated 5 percent of net revenue. "While the increased payment could pressure 'Madden's' margins, the increased revenue and gross profit should offset it and have a positive effect on earnings," the analyst wrote. Wilson, however, cut his rating on EA to "Sector Perform" from "Outperform," saying potential growth from the NFL agreement is already reflected in the stock's price and that he cannot justify a price greater than $63. Michael Pachter, an analyst with Wedbush Morgan Securities, also lowered EA to "Hold" from "Buy" and said he believes there is limited upside from current levels despite the company's "superior" growth prospects. The analyst said while both EA and the NFL will profit from the arrangement, the company - which has exclusive deals with FIFA, NASCAR and the PGA - may not come under enough pressure to spur rapid development of newer releases. "It is our belief that competition drives innovation, and we are concerned that without competition from Sega/Take-Two, Microsoft, Sony, Atari and Midway, EA will have less incentive to continually improve its franchise," Pachter wrote in a note to clients. Elsewhere in the sector, shares of Activision Inc. added 1 cent to trade at $18.66, while THQ Inc. added 3 cents to $23.51 on the Nasda
