It was many moons ago that the NFL and game publisher EA entered into an exclusive contract, letting EA be the only game in town to produce titles with the NFL license. There’s an entire generation of players at this point who have only known Madden NFL. While things may change a bit, it seems the bulk of that deal will remain for the next half decade.
As reported earlier in the week, it was expected that EA and NFL would be entering into an extension of their partnership. Now, as reported by the NFL, both the league and EA have officially announced the deal. It will be six year renewal being called, “the biggest and widest-reaching interactive entertainment agreement in NFL history.” It will give EA the sole rights to create simulation-based games based on the NFL product. While there’s some leeway in non-simulation titles, such as the deal the NFL and 2K Games struck, it does seems EA can also still produce non-simulation titles as well and stated they are looking at producing other games in other genres. The deal guarantees EA the above mentioned exclusive rights up until 2025, and if revenue markers are hit, will include 2026 as well.
The next game in EA’s simulation series, Madden NFL 21, is set to release in August, with the reveal trailer set for June 1st.