Even if the NFL wants to divorce EA and Madden, it's too late to do so now
By Brian Allen
Insider Gaming reports that the contract negotiations between the NFL and EA have begun later than normal, with the league possibly wondering if exclusivity is still the best option. The league surely has noticed some dumpster fire moments, such as players randomly being locked out of their Ultimate Team accounts.
Before anybody gets too excited about the constant negative feedback from players, remember NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell can't walk into a room of football fans without being soundly booed. He knows the people who are upset are always the most vocal. He also knows the fans booing him at the draft are doing so while wearing $200 jerseys they paid full price for. In the same vein, many Madden NFL complainers are on their fifth consecutive year buying the game for the last time.
Has Madden's monopoly been good for anyone other than EA Sports? Of course not. The NFL makes a lot of money from the exclusivity deal. But it's hard to imagine it couldn't make more in a world in which Sony, Microsoft and Take-Two Interactive all paid NFL licensing fees as they once did.
The exclusive deal didn't just destroy the beloved NFL 2K franchise. It ended any development of football games at all the major stakeholders. Even in 2005, nobody could spare the resources to work on a football game on the off chance they got another crack at it in the future. Now, with the video game industry announcing a new studio closure daily? It's a risk no company is going to take.
The realities of game development are staring the NFL in the face. It takes years to make a decent game. If the NFL license was available tomorrow, it would still be four or five years before anybody could get a new title to market. There's absolutely no guarantee that said title would be any good. The first one would probably be disappointing.
AEW Fight Forever is an example of what would likely happen if somebody tried a new NFL sim. Yuke's has worked on WWE wrestling games for decades. If anybody could successfully launch a new wrestling franchise, they'd be the most likely candidate. They were unable to build a new wrestling contender the first time out, and it remains to be seen if they'll get a second chance.
Making matters worse for Fight Forever, WWE 2K24 released to the best reviews the series has received in years. Any brand-new NFL effort would be compared to Madden, and in its first few years probably wouldn't measure up. Does anybody really believe Backbreaker or Axis Football failed simply because they didn't have NFL teams in them?
Despite Madden NFL's stagnation, its monopoly is keeping it profitable. The eternal sunk cost fallacy of Ultimate Team ensures that the game remains popular on both Xbox and PlayStation well into July. Madden 25 is soon to release, with reviews likely ranging from "more of the same" to "Madden is showing some promise."
The National Football League has never shown guilt for making piles of money off an inferior product. It charges full price for Carolina Panthers tickets, after all. No, the NFL has made this bed and has to lie in it with EA Sports. Fortunately for them, it's stuffed with money.