Gamers sue EA over football exclusivity

by Richard Mitchell { Jun 12th 2008 at 2:30PM }

Football gamers will remember 2004 as a dark year in video game football history. 2004, you see, was the year that EA acquired the exclusive rights to publish NFL licensed football games. Gamers will also remember that the reason why EA acquired the license is because Sega's ESPN NFL 2K5 released that year for a paltry $19.99, which resulted in a huge sales boost and in EA lowering the price of Madden 2005 to $29.95 in response. Once EA acquired the NFL license and effectively eliminated all football competition, it released Madden 2006 for the price of $49.95 the following year.

It seems some have taken exception to Electronic Arts' actions, as Gamespot reports that a pair of gamers in Washington, DC and California have filed suit against the company for "blatantly anticompetitive conduct." The suit mentions the company's acquisition of the NFL license as well as the price hike of Madden 2006 the year following the acquisition. Furthermore, the suit notes EA's ongoing attempt to acquire of Take Two, which would "remove one of the few companies with the ability and expertise to compete in the market for interactive football software." That's assuming EA ever lost its hold on the NFL license, of course.

The plaintiffs seek "restitution and damages" for anyone that purchased an EA football game since August 2005 and "disgorgement of all profits made as a result of anticompetitive actions, and that the infringing agreements be declared null and void."

Update: The suit also makes note of EA's licensing agreements with NCAA Football and the Arena Football League. Along with the NFL, this gives EA the exclusive rights to "the only viable sports football associations in the United States."

[Via Joystiq]

Tags: business, ea, electronic-arts, football, football-lawsuit, nfl, nfl-2k5, nfl-lawsuit, nfl2k5, take-two

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Digital Limit @ Jun 12th 2008 2:37PM

Whoa, big claims. I hope EA gets crushed. =]

brytdavis @ Jun 12th 2008 2:40PM

F*ck EA ... they suck

DM7000 @ Jun 12th 2008 2:40PM

It's a monopoly on football games!!!

Bravo6 @ Jun 12th 2008 2:41PM

Would be awesome if it somehow made a difference, but I doubt it.

SadisticHam @ Jun 12th 2008 2:51PM

I suspect this wont get anywhere.

andyg8180 @ Jun 12th 2008 2:52PM

well i think its totally fair to charge an extra $20 for the "hit-stick" feature... This suit is black not...

gotoman00 @ Jun 12th 2008 2:56PM

looks like peter moore might get that 2k tattoo after all

ljung8erg @ Jun 12th 2008 3:05PM

Pretty much what EA has done with the Fifa franchise. Pro Evolution Soccer can merely pick up the scraps of individual licenses with regards to football (soccer) teams and competitions. Whereas EA's Fifa has everything... well everything except the better gameplay. (oh snap!)

ccc @ Jun 12th 2008 3:12PM

Well this is fucking sweet.

I salute these guys for making the effort and I hope the stick it to EA big time, right in thier big fat greedy smelly assholes.

2K football always owned the Madden Franchise.

Jcarpio @ Jun 12th 2008 3:12PM

While I applaud their efforts, they're missing another person to sue. The NFL. In being the money grabbers that they are, the league offered up the exclusive rights to the highest bidder.

Also, they shouldn't stop there. Sue EA for their NCAA exclusivity agreement as well.

rob paek @ Jun 12th 2008 4:15PM

Thank God someone pointed the finger at the NFL as well! It took too long for the comments to get to your post!!

I mean I enjoy EA Sports' titles, but it is totally unfair to the consumer to have exclusives. My question is why isn't an "exclusive agreement" (what EA has with NCAA/NFL and AT&T has with the iPhone, etc.) considered a monopoly? I'm sure there's plenty of reasons since they are legal and in existence, but I would like it if someone can answer me! Thanks in advance.

narek @ Jun 12th 2008 5:05PM

My question is why isn't an "exclusive agreement" (what EA has with NCAA/NFL and AT&T has with the iPhone, etc.) considered a monopoly?

if At&t had the exclusive rights to all phones then it would be a monopoly... but the iPhone is apple's product. if they want to sell the exclusivity rights the highest bidder for crazy money, its their right to do so. the same with NFL i guess, anyone can make a football game, EA doesn't have the rights to the game "football"

Grimm @ Jun 12th 2008 8:57PM

@narek

That is simple man...because the IPhone is a product. The NFL/NCAA/AFL are sports leagues...these are two completely different things. AT&T having the IPhone isn't even remotely a monopoly. Although EA owning exclusive rights to every football association in the world is pretty damn close. That's like owning exclusive rights to publish anything in the comic book realm. Maybe even have exclusive rights to publish any movie based games. Doing this is just wrong and kind of fucked up. It forces anyone who wants to play a football game to buy a game made by EA.

narek @ Jun 13th 2008 1:54AM

its like having exclusive rights to publish all movie based games out of Hollywood.

Terror @ Jun 12th 2008 3:35PM

How about just taking a stand and not buying their product? If enough people dont by the game the price will drop. We have power people, use it. You see how quick it dropped when 2K was 19.99. This will fail, the NFL sold the rights to the highest bidder, 2k had every right to outbid EA (like that was going to happen). I applaud the effort though.

YoRone22 @ Jun 12th 2008 3:39PM

That would work, but sadly the majority of people that buy Madden year after year do not read 360 fanboy or any other gaming website. They buy maybe one or two games a year and are very casual. If all the real hardcore gamers stopped buying Madden, but the casual audience continued EA would care less. In order for that to work, the casual audience will need to stop buying, but their is a fat chance in that happening.

Jcarpio @ Jun 12th 2008 5:28PM

It's hard to tell Madden Zealots that their product of choice is substandard. They won't listen.

Best thing to do is to purchase the competitor's game.

Is there going to be an All-Pro 2k9?

OTAM @ Jun 12th 2008 3:54PM

This won't go anywhere because America is a place where logic and reasoning mean nothing and money talks.

Neuromancer @ Jun 12th 2008 4:01PM

Unfortunately the invisible hand of the marketplace has spoken, and it said that lots of stupid people like Madden enough to buy it year after year instead of the competitors (back when there were competitors).

blank964 @ Jun 12th 2008 6:41PM

The only way gamers can make a difference is boycotting the game and their are too many people that buy Madden no matter how crappy it is. Its a shame that the 2K series was starting to really be legit and it also sucks that Take Two then got the exclusive third party rights to MLB when MVP was the best baseball game (in my opinion).

ZEBRA NINER @ Jun 12th 2008 7:19PM

OH great, another lawsuit over something stupid. They should also sue the NFL for having a monopoly on American football.

Why all the EA hate guys? They are the best! :)

Chalupey @ Jun 13th 2008 2:09AM

This is great! I don't know if they will go anywhere, but like the rest of you i commend them. EA is going to far to become a lazy game production company. They got tired of raising the bar so they just got rid of the competition. I loved all the ESPN 2k games. I got even more tict when EA bought out ESPN. I too hope these guys go far. It truly is becoming a monopoly. SCREW EA and their lazy F*ing company...

Josh @ Jun 13th 2008 2:38PM

I used to purchase both Madden and 2k games until this "buying out" of the league happened.

To this day, I have not purchased an EA sports video game. I may only be one voice, but it's worth it mentally, and, hey, I save some cash.

http://www.youtube.com/balloonshop