EA and the NFL to Continue Unholy Union Through 2030 Season

It’s been months in the making, but EA and the NFL made things official this week by extending their exclusive licensing agreement through the 2030 NFL season.

If you think about it at all, this was a foregone conclusion because there’s no chance EA would be purchased by entities that were not aware this exclusivity was already locked up. Madden and the NFL are a huge part of what makes EA alluring to people with money signs for eyeballs, and so any folks hoping for another outcome here were mostly lying to themselves.

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That said, it’s obviously not a good outcome for people who want more choice in sports games, or more specifically, want more “simulation” video game options that are licensed by the NFL.

This still keeps the same theoretical window open for other companies to make “arcade” NFL games, but it doesn’t seem like many companies (see: 2K) see value in that, or perhaps the “arcade” element is more restrictive than we know, which also makes it not worth a company’s worthwhile when factoring in the cost to acquire the license.

Reading into the news itself, my headline might be tongue-in-cheek, but I do know there is some real despair out there right now. It’s been almost 21 years since EA and the NFL chose to make a deal for around $300 million that sealed the fate of NFL 2K and ended what many consider the golden era of sports games.

I would say the HD era and rising development costs are the “true” reason that golden era came to an end, but multiple things have happened (which includes exclusive licenses) that did help to hollow out the amount of choices we now have for licensed sports games.

Who this sucks for, like with most exclusive contracts, is the consumer. I have seen stuff like “I guess I’m just done playing NFL games” and all that once again, and I’ve seen statements like that for the last 20 years. Unfortunately, it appears the people quitting are not outpacing those who are replacing them as Madden remains a top-10 selling game almost every year (minus last year).

Last year’s sales are worth pointing out because those did clearly spook the NFL a bit, and it is what did give us a sliver of hope that the NFL might think about doing something else with its licensing. But then Madden’s sales bounced back this year, and it also became clear the NFL wanted exclusivity more than EA wanted it. This all brought reality back to the forefront.

Ultimately, last year’s sales can probably at least be partially chalked up to people being so excited to play College Football 25 after its decade-plus absence that they bypassed Madden. The Sports Business Journal also pointed out that the CFB/Madden combo has been doing great for EA.

What Happens Now?

There are only so many times I can say “well, that sucks” and so I’m not even going to try this time around. At this point, you’ve either accepted that there is Madden and only ever will be Madden, or you’re a miserable clod who needs to stay angry to feel alive. It’s understandable to want more options and a game you like playing that mimics your favorite sport in real life, but unfortunately we’re not entitled to that sort of thing by default. You can either accept that and keep playing Madden, or move on with your life and probably be way happier if Madden makes you that miserable in the first place.

With that out of the way, what I do want to focus on is what’s actually happening with the future of EA and the NFL. It is absolutely worth pointing out that the NFLPA has come to no new agreement with EA as of yet.

What that’s saying is the NFLPA has grounds to walk if they want in the future, in part because of a “change-in-control provision” that is likely in the old deal between EA and the NFLPA. Without getting too lawyer-y, all that really means is because EA is being purchased the NFLPA has the right to say they don’t like the trajectory of EA and look for new partners.

Do I think we’re headed for the return of early-90s sports video games where some games have the teams but not the players or vice versa? No, but it probably means the NFLPA is now going to hold EA up for a lot more money to extend their own exclusive window.

The other tidbit from that quote that doesn’t impact most of us but is still worth pointing out is it does mean (as of now) NFL players would start vanishing from CFB in 2027, which really means vanishing from Ultimate Team. Even though CFB’s Ultimate Team mode does not make anywhere near the money those modes do in Madden and EA FC, that would still chip away at EA’s microtransaction profits.

In other words, EA has a reason to want to try and come to an agreement with the NFLPA sooner than later (and the NFLPA has obvious leverage in multiple ways).

On a final note, it is worth noting that EA has grand plans for Madden to be more involved with “entertainment” in various forms. EA is already involved in esports and that seems like it will only continue to go even more global. This tracks because it’s well established how invested the Saudis (one of the future owners of EA) are in esports.

The more exciting one for me, a sicko who watches entirely too much sports on TV, is that it seems the MaddenCast will be expanded as well. I actually think the MaddenCast last year was one of the better alt-casts I’ve seen.

It’s not on Prime Vision’s level or anything, but it was far and away better than the putrid NBA 2K DataCast that was trotted out during the NBA Cup last year. It seems the MaddenCast will be getting more bites at the apple or will be featured on more broadcasts, and I do think that’s a good thing because video games can absolutely add to real broadcasts if used correctly.

And with that, I sign off and end my role as the Silver Surfer for this week. Maybe next week I’ll have better news to share.

Until next time y’all. And, as always, thanks for reading.

-Chase