Madden NFL 15 News Post

EA Still Owns the NFL License Exclusively

11:32 AM - June 13, 2014 by RaychelSnr

While there has some some question as to the status of the exclusivity of the Madden license, owing to the fact the last mention of the license by EA only said there were a number of years left on it with no mention of exclusivity. That was never a guarantee that the license wasn't exclusive, as EA hadn't mentioned in official documents that the license was either extended or exclusive since the initial deal -- the news of the prior extension was never fully confirmed by EA.

Expecting a different approach where EA held a pomp and circumstance parade has led to a rash of unfounded rumors that another competitor, namely 2K, was developing a football game. There was even an unfounded expectation that 2K might even debut a football title at E3.

However, the biggest news to come out of the 2K camp at E3 might have been Ronnie2K confirming that not only was 2K not working on a football game, but that the license was still exclusively owned by 'someone else.'

This isn't surprising, considering the NFL license being open for other partners would have almost certainly leaked by now by someone. The current deal's term length which has been widely speculated and rumored is that Madden still has two to three years in its current deal, pushing the game well into this new generation.

It still remains unlikely, even if the license was open, that a competitor could rise up to compete with Madden in any reasonable amount of time given the more advanced needs of today's sports gaming audience. Thus, given the license's current status, it is possible that any possible competitor wouldn't be ready for release for at least 18-24 months after the license was actually acquired by someone, which puts the most reasonable timeframe for a Madden competitor at least four to five years from now, if ever. The most likely scenario remains that EA and Madden will remain the only major NFL gaming option on big box consoles for the foreseeable future.

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Member Comments

# 301 DeuceDouglas @ 06/19/14 11:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by roadman


	LOL, oh bother. Reading the comments I know now more than enough about Florio. Next.

I just went through the comments myself and came away with some good laughs.

My favorite...

Quote:


	[He's a hack] who relies on snark and sensationalism passing as journalism to the unwashed masses. Let's say Dez Bryant picks his nose, the headline would be "Dez Bryant Exhibits Classic Traits of Cocaine Addiction". The article would end with a snarky comment about how Tony Romo waits until the playoffs to blow.

Had seen him on SNF before but never realized he was viewed as such a joke.

# 302 kehlis @ 06/19/14 11:18 PM

I've always enjoyed Florio and I wouldn't underestimate him.

He's a weekly staple on the Dan Patrick show which carries a wide variety of listeners and it isn't short on the younger (very relatively speaking) demographic since it airs 9-12 eastern.

# 303 bkrich83 @ 06/20/14 01:00 AM

I take everything Mike Florio says with a grain of salt. Fact checking and accuracy aren't staples of his writings.

# 304 dkp23 @ 06/20/14 02:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hanzsomehanz


	I got to watching the 3:30 soapbox spiel and I am content to takeaway that he is merely doing this as a publicity stunt for his own personal gain through media attention - to what end it will achieve: I have no idea but I imagine the very Madden Cover Vote tournament he, Mike Florio, lamented over does more for EA's positive publicity than his soapbox spiel does for their negative publicity. What I will do however to spread the word is share his video link on the EA Twitter pages - what say you EA?

what he said is not too far off from what many of the sim community is saying. The game isn't that good and not a representative of NFL football other than there are players, the teams, the logos and the rules.

PUblicity stunt or not, doesnt matter, just read this website and you will see the same thing people are saying on this forum. The game sucks, no competition resulting in a subpar game with lack of improvements to make a real representation of a football game.

Instead, we have a game that enables zig zagging, warping, stupid defense, canned animation, no gang tackling, and gimmicky features. Yes, these things are whined about by everyone pretty much every year and yet we are still whining about it.

# 305 roadman @ 06/20/14 07:40 AM

I don't know much about Florio, so, I started reading the comments about him on that site that was linked.

I formed an opinion based on those comments.

# 306 BezO @ 06/20/14 08:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ODogg


	People that think 2K is better than the current Madden prove just how truly powerful nostalgia really is...

Nostalgia is quite selective as I was a Madden gamer way before I was a 2K gamer.

# 307 dkp23 @ 06/20/14 11:01 AM

Florio just put it in text this morning on PFT

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com...le-more-years/

# 308 FBall Life @ 06/20/14 11:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ODogg


	People that think 2K is better than the current Madden prove just how truly powerful nostalgia really is...

It's not nostalgia when you can boot up 2K5 today and show, side-by-side, clear examples and demonstrations of how much better 2K5 is at the fundamental game of football than the current release of Madden.

# 309 mestevo @ 06/20/14 11:26 AM

Instead of making a real and compelling argument, his "selling basically the same game with different players in the software and a different picture on the cover" argument holds no water and would probably get him banned here in short order.

I wonder when he even last played a Madden or just listened to his son complain about it over a weekend.

It's unfortunate this is what you guys have for 'mainstream coverage' - and I like Florio.

It's also too bad he didn't do this earlier and save this thread from even existing since he confirmed with the league the license is exclusive.

Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk

# 310 kjcheezhead @ 06/20/14 11:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BezO


	Nostalgia is quite selective as I was a Madden gamer way before I was a 2K gamer.

Yep, I still think the old ps2 Maddens are better than current ps3 version at least. Better mini games, a play editor, a vision cone that at least offers a mechanic to change the passing into something more challenging. More intuitive control map, more responsive controls where swat button was always a swat button...

Honestly, what has the new game brought in to change it up at all? Strategy pad? Gameflow? Throw a WR open with more dramatic tethered passing?

As far as Mike Florio goes, I'm glad at least someone in the media is saying something. Usually they are just spitting out clich�s about how they don't know how EA continues to make the game even more realistic every year, but then mention the buzz word of the day (true step, protak, etc) and you can tell they have never touched the game in their life.

# 311 SageInfinite @ 06/20/14 12:03 PM

In fairness imo, overall Madden on PS4 is better than the PS2 versions finally.

# 312 grants10 @ 06/20/14 12:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mestevo


	Instead of making a real and compelling argument, his "selling basically the same game with different players in the software and a different picture on the cover" argument holds no water and would probably get him banned here in short order. I wonder when he even last played a Madden or just listened to his son complain about it over a weekend. It's unfortunate this is what you guys have for 'mainstream coverage' - and I like Florio. It's also too bad he didn't do this earlier and save this thread from even existing since he confirmed with the league the license is exclusive. Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk

I posted this in another thread:

I think it is important to note he is probably one of those "average" or "******" gamers people talk about. Thus, this is just one man's opinion but it shows that the "average joe" or "******" gamer is tired of the game as well.

I state this because I hear some people on OS are only the minority. And as I stated it is only one person but I think the ship is starting to sink.

# 313 SageInfinite @ 06/20/14 12:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GiantBlue76


	Agreed, but only on the field and not by a lot. The franchise mode is vastly inferior.

Yeah I definitely was referring to strictly on the field. The interactions, variety in animations, controls, and presentation are all better than PS2. I do believe one of their mistakes was remapping the turbo button to the trigger when they moved to xbox 360. The animations were a lot smoother on PS2 though.

Franchise mode I haven't really touched the connected careers mode. Never really like the idea to begin with, and once I tried it I stumbled through everything. Wasn't really a streamlines experience like they explained it imo. I thoroughly enjoyed the PS2 franchise mode.

# 314 mellamoaaron @ 06/20/14 01:39 PM

Just a hunch, but I doubt Florio has actually sat down and played Madden ever.

Anyway, I think Madden is a pretty good VIDEO GAME representation of what goes on in the football field, in fact since 2012 they have been improving the game at a pretty rapid pace considering their time constraints. I was a fan of 2K5 and I think it played a pretty good game of football but Madden eclipses it now and has eclipsed it for the past few years. People won't admit it, but the cool thing to do is to hate on Madden and it's a loud minority of people. Madden's sales have went down incrementally as has the whole game industry's, but I'd say the people who are voting with their dollars are saying they are liking what they are offering.

My major qualm with Madden though is that the game needs POLISH. That's something the PS2 era games had that the PS3 era didn't. Up until 2012 Maddens still felt way too rough around the edges and they have been doing a better job at trying to fix legacy issues and make the game feel more complete, but I still think there is room for improvement. 15 looks like it's going to be absolutely amazing and if it improves on 25 which was a very solid game then I will be happy.

Right now I'm higher on Madden 15 than I am on NBA 2K15 after how badly 2K screwed up their game modes on 2K14 and how the passing still is absolute garbage.

# 315 SageInfinite @ 06/20/14 02:16 PM

2k5 on the field I think is more debatable if Madden has surpassed it or not. APF 2k8 I still don't think Madden is close.

Personally idk why anyone would feel "cool" hating on Madden.

Personally, I think people just have to realize alot of people that have complaints about Madden understand it's a "video game", lol. We just know that other "video games" have had things that Madden has yet to add, and things that Madden still does not do adequately on the field. A majority of people aren't asking for unreasonable requests from the Tiburon team. Maybe they are unreasonable for the talent level at EA/Tiburon.

# 316 HealyMonster @ 06/20/14 06:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GiantBlue76


	This ^^^. I challenge anyone to this: let's say you bought a car in 2001 - brand new. It had power windows, locks, mirrors, steering, ABS, leather and a 10 disc changer with MP3 aux support and it cost you 25k. Fast forward to 2010. The same car comes out with a new model for that year. This model does not have power windows, locks, mirrors, or ABS - but it does have power steering. The cost of this new car is 30k. You mean to tell me that you are going to happily buy that new car, which basically goes backwards and has less than what you had 10 years prior AND costs more money? Are you really going to tell your wife, "it's ok hon, they tried really hard in making this car. I realize the brakes don't work as well, there are no power locks, mirrors or ABS, and it has a much lower quality sound system, but you know, they tried really hard in making the car. Let's buy it anyway." There is a difference between being a person who is just wanting to hate EA/Madden and being a sensible consumer who doesn't want to be raked over the coals on a yearly basis. EA and the NFL are the ones who decided to make this bed of exclusivity, NOT the consumer. Take away choice and product quality levels, and this is what you will get for the foreseeable future. The majority of the "complaints" are warranted, and no reasonable person is asking for the moon. I just want AT LEAST what I had 10 years ago on and off the field. Right now I still have neither. Undeniably, progress is being made. The game is no longer "terrible". However, that doesn't cut it. As a consumer, I don't care about past development errors, leadership changes, internal strife, financial burdens and other nonsense that is on the shoulders of Tiburon. Don't care, don't want to hear it, don't need to hear it. The progress is still insanely slow and the implementations are still relatively poor. Things do not work nearly as well as they should. The CFM mode is incredibly underwhelming, and does not replicate much of what team management is like. Madden's franchise mode from 10 years earlier is FAR better, and the insanely awesome weekly prep that was done in 2k's franchise mode was great. These were things modeled after real life, not some crazy, invented idea that came out of someone's head that probably doesn't even watch or follow NFL football.

Awesome post. I'm with you on all counts .

# 317 23 @ 06/20/14 08:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GiantBlue76


	This ^^^. I challenge anyone to this: let's say you bought a car in 2001 - brand new. It had power windows, locks, mirrors, steering, ABS, leather and a 10 disc changer with MP3 aux support and it cost you 25k. Fast forward to 2010. The same car comes out with a new model for that year. This model does not have power windows, locks, mirrors, or ABS - but it does have power steering. The cost of this new car is 30k. You mean to tell me that you are going to happily buy that new car, which basically goes backwards and has less than what you had 10 years prior AND costs more money? Are you really going to tell your wife, "it's ok hon, they tried really hard in making this car. I realize the brakes don't work as well, there are no power locks, mirrors or ABS, and it has a much lower quality sound system, but you know, they tried really hard in making the car. Let's buy it anyway." There is a difference between being a person who is just wanting to hate EA/Madden and being a sensible consumer who doesn't want to be raked over the coals on a yearly basis. EA and the NFL are the ones who decided to make this bed of exclusivity, NOT the consumer. Take away choice and product quality levels, and this is what you will get for the foreseeable future. The majority of the "complaints" are warranted, and no reasonable person is asking for the moon. I just want AT LEAST what I had 10 years ago on and off the field. Right now I still have neither. Undeniably, progress is being made. The game is no longer "terrible". However, that doesn't cut it. As a consumer, I don't care about past development errors, leadership changes, internal strife, financial burdens and other nonsense that is on the shoulders of Tiburon. Don't care, don't want to hear it, don't need to hear it. The progress is still insanely slow and the implementations are still relatively poor. Things do not work nearly as well as they should. The CFM mode is incredibly underwhelming, and does not replicate much of what team management is like. Madden's franchise mode from 10 years earlier is FAR better, and the insanely awesome weekly prep that was done in 2k's franchise mode was great. These were things modeled after real life, not some crazy, invented idea that came out of someone's head that probably doesn't even watch or follow NFL football.

Sir I would say until you guys collectively stop supporting this series completely this will continue year after year. Sure they have the license for 2 more years but then what? They'll just pony up more cash and do it all over again.

# 318 iLLWiLL @ 06/24/14 06:16 PM

Somehow the likelihood of getting to play a new NFL-licensed 2K game is beginning to feel eerily similar to being an Eagles fan and getting a Superbowl win -- year after year, you have faith...but then it just never happens

# 319 Kaiser Wilhelm @ 06/24/14 09:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by iLLWiLL


	Somehow the likelihood of getting to play a new NFL-licensed 2K game is beginning to feel eerily similar to being an Eagles fan and getting a Superbowl win -- year after year, you have faith...but then it just never happens

Or like being a Bills fan and earning a playoff birth.

# 320 ODogg @ 06/24/14 10:35 PM

I'm going to keep buying Madden but I do hope 2K somehow comes back, competition is great for gamers no matter what game you enjoy. Madden was always best when it was heavily challenged.

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