EA Sports Retains NFL Exclusivity through 2026
Electronic Arts has dominated the video game football space, and has inked a deal this week that will continue that trend.
EA Sports and the National Football League have renewed the existing exclusivity contract that gives the publisher the rights to make football video games. Finalized this week, the contract now extends to May of 2026. Most financial terms were not disclosed publicly, but as reported by The Athletic’s Darren Rovell, the deal is worth at least $1 billion to the NFL and at least $500 million to the players of the sport that are in the game.
Many football fans have wanted the NFL to expand its licensing to other sports game franchises like 2K, but the Madden series will continue to live on as the far superior (and recently, the only) football product. will remain the only way to play simulation football for the foreseeable future.
NFL chief media and business officer Brian Rolapp was quoted during a post-meeting conference call with reporters that the process was opened up to multiple companies, as the exclusivity deal between EA and the NFL was coming to a close.
“EA made the most compelling case,” Rolapp said, “and beat out the competition pretty soundly.”
Rolapp also said that “all models of video game football were considered”, including granting licenses to multiple companies at once. EA Sports clearly had the upper hand and delivered a compelling case to continue its exclusivity with America’s most popular sport.
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