ESPN Madden 2006....

[Ripper]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div>

Electronic Arts, ESPN ink exclusive 15-year deal

[UPDATE] ESPN brand and programming to surface in EA sports ***les on all platforms; Sega Sports and Visual Concepts thrown for a loss, again.
Electronic Arts broke the calm of a national holiday today by announcing a licensing deal of epic proportions. For the next fifteen years, EA will be the sole licensee of the ESPN brand in the area of sports games, which will include console, handheld, PC, and wireless games.


Games with leverage the ESPN brand will make their way to retail sometime during calendar year 2006, "upon the conclusion of ESPN’s existing video game licensing commitments."

The news is the second blow to current ESPN license-holder Sega (and its Visual Concepts development studio). It recently lost the right to publish sports games using the NFL license when EA scooped that license up. Now, it loses the right to the ESPN brand as well.

In a statement released today, the world's largest game publisher said, "The relationship will include established EA SPORTS franchises--which will be enhanced by ESPN telecast, print and online content--as well as new sports games to be published by EA based on ESPN media properties."

Addressing ways EA intends to leverage not only ESPN programming but also technology, EA's vice president of marketing Frank Gibeau told GameSpot today, "When everything is online, and we’re going to be able to have live feeds, there's a lot of sports information content from ESPN that's really going to expand what EA Sports already does."

When asked to elaborate, Gibeau decline to go into specifics, but did say, "I think you can start to think about some of the core technology capabilities that are going to come online in the next few years with portability, wireless...you can think about the live feeds that can start to come in from ESPN inside of the games." For example, "being able to set rosters based on that night's rosters, brought to you by ESPN."

Gibeau also said the deal "goes upstream as well as downstream," suggesting ESPN will gain from the alliance as well. "Being able to use our technology to help illustrate games and analysis, being able to use some of their franchises with our games as programming opportunities [also] becomes part of this deal."

Gibeau seemed intent on dispelling chatter that has suggested the ESPN deal means a hasty departure from any future work with John Madden. "If you think about the deal, it’s not an inevitability that he goes away…I'm not sure where those stories are coming from," Gibeau said. "I think the simple fact is we've had a long-term, great relationship with John Madden. And he’s in our games next year."

The agreement announced today is for fifteen years "with an option to terminate after ten years under certain conditions," the statement said. The agreement gives the publisher "exclusive first rights" to all ESPN content for simulation sports games.

Elaborating on that first right option, Gibeau said, "With regards to the first right of refusal, all it means is that if ESPN has a program that we're not interested in making a video game about, they have the opportunity to be able to go and figure out how to produce it, without our participation." However, Gibeau added, "The likelihood of that occurring is very low."

While a fifteen-year term in the world of licensing is nothing new, it is unusual in the game space. "The term is really a signal and a commitment level between the two partners," Gibeau said today. "It's like saying we're going to get married without a pre-nup."

Watch for a complete interview with Frank Gibeau, and more on the EA/ESPN marriage, tomorrow in GameSpot News.[/b]

 

[Ripper]

Linky Link

Article on ESPN Site

 

[ak47]

With John Madden not with Fox sports and now with ABC (which owns channel ESPN)..........it was only a matter of time before EA got the ESPN name

With John Madden contracted to EA sports, and announcing for a company that owns channel ESPN, it was only common sense to combine the 2 once possible.

Sega sports will have to come up with a new name..............but i wonder if they'll lose the presentation efforts that ESPN brought to their games, as they tried to replicate NFL primetime etc.

I wonder now if EA sports Madden will have chris berman and NFL Primetime.

This is good news..............John Madden is the master of NFL announcing, and now his games will be souped up with ESPN's presentation, and telecast.

#1 announcer teamed up with the #1 in sports channels
Maybe the next EA Madden will be the king, a mix of ESPN's sports presentation and Johns expertise, this can only mean a beast is in the making.

Chris Berman and John Madden on the same game - along with sportscentre..............oh my god, this will be huge!!!!!

 

[Ripper]

I knew something like this would happen, but the rumours I heard were that Madden wanted out and EA were gonna replace him with Fox

 

[ak47]

Originally posted by Ripper@Jan 19 2005, 10:38 AM
I knew something like this would happen, but the rumours I heard were that Madden wanted out and EA were gonna replace him with Fox

the rumours u heard are prolly right for a little while

Working for ABC, John's bosses would have been in his ear to end the contract with EA, due to ABC's ESPN game, which was competition, and conflict of interest

John prolly hinted to EA he is looking on the out...............EA then went looking.

EA then went to NFL, got exclusive naming rights.

Sega sports lost out.

ESPN said, Sega ur gorne.

ESPN brand approach EA in a deal with Maddens franchise, coz Madden works for ABC, which owns ESPN.
EA keeps Madden, ABC no longer have conflict of interest with its ESPN brands, as Madden works for all of them

its all common sense, this should have happened as soon as John went to ABC...........however I guess ESPN brand had a contract with Sega in which they had to wait till it expired, which i guess was last year, and now we have ESPN Madden 2006

 

[shiznit]

i got ESPN 2k5 on friday and ive been glued to it ever since.
very sad that the franchise is going to end.
i own both madden 05 and ESPN 2k5 and ESPN is better by miles (and madden is no rugby 2004).
now that sega sports seem to be lacking in the football genre they should make a rugby game.
i dear even the most ardent of madden fans to play this game.
it will blow your mind.

 

[ak47]

Originally posted by shiznit@Feb 1 2005, 12:00 PM
i got ESPN 2k5 on friday and ive been glued to it ever since.
very sad that the franchise is going to end.
i own both madden 05 and ESPN 2k5 and ESPN is better by miles (and madden is no rugby 2004).
now that sega sports seem to be lacking in the football genre they should make a rugby game.
i dear even the most ardent of madden fans to play this game.
it will blow your mind.

DUDE

I owned both 2004 editions of Madden and ESPN, and by far ESPN took the cake.

I saw ESPN2K5 for $50 at EB the other day but passed on it, simply coz i couldnt justify playing it when the NFL season is nearly over, and that the ESPN Sega franchise will cease to exist.

I havent played Madden 2005 since GTA came out.
Maybe i can trade Madden for ESPN and pay 'zero' extra coz ESPN's $50 anyway.

But with Gran Tursimo 4 and Rugby around the corner i gotto stop buying games, coz i wont play jack when these 2 puppies are released.

Anything I buy between now and then, will collect dust forever in 2 months.

However it aches me to death wondering how good the new ESPN is...........i gotto rent this baby.

 

[shiznit]

yeah you really need to play it.
its that good.

 

[ak47]

Originally posted by shiznit@Feb 2 2005, 02:04 PM
yeah you really need to play it.
its that good.

dude
i can trade in madden 2005 and pay next to nothing for ESPN

thats it i am PM'ing u

 

[Lemmiwinks]

man i must be the only one i honestly think this game is ****. i find madden way more enjoyable. sure the presentation on espn is probably better but the animation and graphics...and gameplay are lame. now i know everyone is gonna say" you crazy this games the sheezy" but frankly if it didnt have the 50 buck price tag i wouldnt have bought it. even thinking of taking it back payine a feww extra bucks and getting madden 05 or maybe nfl or nba streets latest offerings

 

[jgough]

Hmm I don't know. ESPN NFL really did have good points, but I rate Madden NFL a touch higher, it just feels 'crisper'.

Madden would be perfect tho if it had the Sports Centre weekly TV, and also if you could set up the training for your team - Also, I think Madden should allow you to 'Create A Coach', and you can coach your team to Superbowl glory, so you could have options of gameplay as either Owener Mode, or Coach Mode. Ohhh yeh

Regards,

Jamie Gough