Non-Negotiables for Franchise Mode in Madden, CFB, MLB The Show, and NBA 2K in 2026

The Wild Card and Divisional Round weeks are my favorite weeks of the NFL season, and they have arrived. But this time of year is also my least favorite time of year for sports games.

We’re in a real weird spot where we’ve been playing these games for months, and we’re still a little ways away from hearing news about next year’s slate of titles. Even when we’ve had it “better” for sports game releases, this has always been a tricky spot in the calendar.

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It’s just the nature of real sports, right? Baseball season is not here yet, and all the other sports are either getting close to the playoffs or at least at midseason. I’d hope to have more “arcade” sports games coming out around this time of year to fill the void, but point being, it’s a bit of a dead zone.

On top of that, it’s the start of a new year (holy crap it’s 2026) so “resolutions” are out in full force, and wishlists are all the rage. I’m not big into those either, and a “wishlist” isn’t really useful at this point in the calendar anyway because the “plan” for these sports games is already set in stone. All these games are already actively being worked on for next year, and so your lists aren’t generally that helpful.

However, strictly from the point of view of what I think would be best for all of us (and these franchise modes) in 2026, I do think it’s worth getting on the same page about what the priorities should be for these games this year. Specifically, what each franchise mode should be laser focused on for 2026.

This is what today’s newsletter is all about. I want to look at NBA 2K, Madden, MLB The Show, and College Football and really get at what the “core” focus should be for each game — and it’s not just “make the mode better” or something like that.

These are four of the biggest sports games around, and they’re the four games I feel I can talk about with the most “authority” because I have spent countless hours in all of them in recent years.

So let’s get into the non-negotiable things that need to be a focus for each one of these franchise modes because I believe each one has different areas that should be a top priority.

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