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And The EA Machine Keeps rolling


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http://www.gamespot.com/news/2004/1...ws_6114977.html

 

"Big Deal: EA and NFL ink exclusive licensing agreement

Five-year contract gives EA sole rights to the NFL, including teams, players, and stadiums. Take-Two reacts, calling it a "tremendous disservice to the consumers."

 

Electronic Arts has signed the biggest sports free agent on the market. In a devastating blow to competitors--and in a deal sure to reshape sports gaming--the software giant signed an exclusive agreement with the National Football League and the NFL Players Inc., a subsidiary of the NFL Players Association.

 

The deal, one EA admits to having lobbied for over the past few years, is an exclusive five-year licensing deal granting EA the sole rights to the NFL's teams, stadiums, and players. However, the publisher and Players Inc. denied a similar deal was in the works in May 2004, even requesting publications that ran the story run public retractions.

 

The NFL/EA arrangement encompasses action, simulation, arcade-style, and manager games made for PCs, consoles, and handhelds (both the DS and PSP, included), 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.

 

EA's current roster of NFL games includes the top-selling Madden franchise and the extreme football NFL Street franchise. Given that EA currently has no "manager games" per se, there is clear writing on the wall that the publisher will announce a new sports management lineup of products, though it refused to comment on when.

 

A source close to the negotiations said it was at a spring 2004 off-site meeting attended by top NFL officials that the league determined it would take the league license exclusive. GameSpot was told the league put the license up for bid and that EA was among as many as five software publishers competing for it. An EA spokesperson said today, "Obviously, exclusives are more expensive. We are most certainly paying a premium."

 

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

 

The deal is obviously bad news for EA's competitors, particularly ESPN Videogames, Sega, and Take-Two, 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.

 

Arguably, the deal will impact consumers negatively as well. With less choice, theories of competition no longer apply. Some industry insiders speculate the exclusive deal was embraced by the NFL after it saw Take-Two lower the price of its 2K5 product earlier this year. No licensor likes to see a price war being fought with its brand value at stake. At the same time, exclusive licenses in the sports world are more the norm than nonexclusive licenses. The NFL's apparel license is a Reebok exclusive, as is its beverage license with Gatorade.

 

This afternoon, Take-Two issued the following statement: “While sports games in general are an important part of Take-Two's product diversification strategy, the licensed NFL game we distributed on behalf of Sega this year was not a material contributor to our profitability to date, nor was it expected to be a meaningful contributor in the upcoming year. We remain committed to continued diversification of our product portfolio, including sports."

 

"We believe that the decisions of the National Football League and PLAYERS INC to grant an exclusive license for videogames do a tremendous disservice to the consumers and sports fans whose funds ultimately support the NFL, by limiting their choices, curbing creativity and almost certainly leading to higher game prices.”

 

"I really respect them, but the consumer really loses," one analyst told GameSpot. "EA is both evil and really smart."

 

As for such a deal affecting quality of future football products, EA's vice president of corporate communications Jeff Brown told GameSpot, "The onus is on EA to keep making a better game each year…that's the hurdle you have to clear every year."

 

Even before the news was released, trading of EA stock had its value spiking north. On trading nearly three times its 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. "

 

Someone just shot me now!!!! ;)

 

Dragon

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That sucks!!!! ;) I 've always like the ESPN/Sega Football games better than madden. Looks like I might have to pass on playing football games for the next 5 years. I hate EA!!!!! Guess they got pissed at ESPN/Sega for releasing there games this last year for $20 and keeping them for charging $50 for a game w/ just minor tweaks and roster updates. This really makes me sick :vomit: It also means w/ no competion the games won't get any better.

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Electronic Arts Buys Ubisoft Stake

 

"Electronic Arts Inc., the largest video game publisher in the United States, said Monday that it agreed to purchase a 19.9 percent stake in French video game developer UbiSoft Entertainment SA from Talpa Beheer BV, the investment vehicle of Dutch media giant John de Mol.

 

Ubisoft is one of Europe's top three video game companies, publishing such titles as Prince of Persia: the Sands of Time and Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell. Ubisoft, which employs about 2,352 workers, posted sales of $618.9 million in 2004.

 

The purchase is subject to antitrust clearance from the U.S. government. Financial terms were not disclosed.

 

Electronic Arts, publisher of Madden NFL 2004, Medal of Honor and the SimCity series, recorded earnings of $577.3 million on sales of $2.96 billion in 2004."

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mines been going since they gutted and closed westwood studios, have been keeping my eye on pertoglyph (mostly westwood guys) they are making a starwars RTS, HOPEFULLY DONE RIGHT!

 

almost sounds as a monopoly... wait till they put that hotel up 80$ for the latest football stats updated Maden "gold" version

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if you all didnt know, EA europiean campain of terror...

 

In other EA news, they were able to purchase 20% of Ubisoft on Monday.

 

thus between that and the NFL deal their stock went up 4 to 6 $ on the stock exchange

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  • 2 weeks later...

Game Maker Ubisoft Soars as Bidding War Looms

 

"Shares in Ubisoft (UBIP.PA: Quote, Profile, Research) soared nearly 10 percent on Wednesday after a report that Vivendi Universal might help the French video games maker fight a possible takeover bid from U.S. giant Electronic Arts."

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  • 3 weeks later...

http://www.gamegossip.com/pressrelease.php?id=11694

 

Well they just won't stop until they have everything will they! DICE falls victim to EA buyout :vomit:

 

The co-creator of penny-arcade made an interesting comment this morning on the site

" One can hardly keep up with the level of consolidation and treachery in the industry anymore. My interest lies more in what these companies produce, so by and large I'm content just let them slink around in the dark and kill each other. Product, not production. To cite just one example, I'm interested in fruit - but not botany or agriculture. So there you have it.

 

Eventually, it's not going to be the kind of thing I can avoid, because I'm going to walk into an Electronic Arts retail location here in a couple years and purchase a white box with the word "Game" on it, and that's going to be the industry. " -- Tycho

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a Queen song comes to mind :D

 

how many didnt see that comming EA helps with bf1942, dacks up for bfv grab everthing out of a mod DC up the graphics and call it BF2 releaseing it after the buy out... same thing they did with westwood i see 1 or 2 more games and then close down

 

oh and pertroglyph's game, due out this fall, is looking sweet Starwars: Empires at War

 

and no droids chopping trees to make bases!!!

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