Whether you like hockey, basketball, football, or American football, there is no doubt that the selection was more varied over two decades ago. For example, Sega had its games in the 2K series, Microsoft had its own sports suite, and Sony had theirs as well.
This drove development and created competition, with developers fighting hard to offer the best option every year. But EA lost a lot of fans to NFL 2K5, which received sky-high ratings and also cost less, and decided to solve the problem. Not by making better games at lower prices... but by buying exclusive rights to the NFL.
Shortly after that, all alternatives disappeared and the biggest corporations essentially divided the various sports among themselves. Even today, many hope that the giant sports organisations will stop selling exclusive deals in order to perhaps restart competition. And that may be the case with the NFL, but not until 2030 at the very earliest.
The Hollywood Reporter now writes that EA and the NFL have once again signed an exclusivity agreement, which in plain language means that we will have to continue to be satisfied with Madden, as there will be no alternatives. Cam Weber, president of EA Sports, comments:
"EA Sports and the NFL have built one of the most iconic partnerships in all of sports and entertainment, and we see so much opportunity ahead to deliver for football fans everywhere. With more than 2 billion games of Madden NFL played each year, the global community of football fans connecting through play has never been bigger. Together with the NFL, we will continue to shape the interactive future of football - expanding Madden NFL, growing College Football, and creating new breakthrough experiences for the next generation of fans."
What is your view on the matter? Should there be alternatives, or is a monopoly position good for major sports?