NFL and EA to Extend Exclusive Agreement to 2012

In a move that is sure to disappoint many sports gamers, EA and the NFL have agreed to extend their exclusive deal to make NFL licensed games till 2012. EA’s Peter Moore assures gamedaily that it was the NFL who sought this deal, not EA.

The NFL lives in a world where it feels above the common ideals of competition and innovation. As a monopoly itself, it is exempt from many of the rules and regulations that the rest of corporate America must adhere to with congressional oversight supposedly keeping it in line. Somewhere in all of this, however, the NFL decided that having competition in the video game market, where several publishers would have to seriously innovate in order to succeed, was less important than raking in a huge amount of cash up front.

In the end, the consumer pays the price for these actions. The NFL and EA both get paid, while the sports fan consumer is relegated to pay $60 for what ends up being a roster refresh. Without innovation, the Madden franchise has stagnated, and true sports fans are stuck.