It's in the Game

In addition to gaining exclusive rights to the NFL license for the next five years, video game behemoth Electronic Arts now has negotiated a 15-year license for the ESPN brand, starting in 2006. Although I think the effect on sales by having the ESPN brand is dubious at best, at least that branding gave SEGA something recognizable to put on their game boxes, to help attract the attention of "Joe Gamer." Without at least the ESPN brand, I highly doubt SEGA will be able to continue to produce a professional football game beyond this year. I also feel that their other sports brands are in jeopardy, as they've never really been on the same playing field as EA in terms of marketing.

In all honesty, in SEGA's short-lived agreement with ESPN, I never really felt like ESPN held up their part of the bargain. For example, EA sponsors ESPN's NFL Matchup show, Herbstreit, Corso, and Nessler are in EA's college football game, and Madden voice "talent" John Madden and Al Michaels are employees of ESPN. I know many of those licenses predated the SEGA/ESPN marriage, but how many times did you actively see ESPN promote SEGA's products, with the exception of that crappy ESPN Video Games website?

Frankly, I feel EA and ESPN deserve each other. They both serve the same market - the puddle-deep-couch-potato-hip-hop-wannabe-18-to-25-year-old-still-living-in-mom's-basement-and-using-her-credit-card-to-buy-products gamer, which coincidentally, also makes up 80% of Xbox Live. In all seriousness, I fear that EA's recent trend of innovation will subside due to the lack of competition, and as a result, all sports video gamers will suffer over the term of the NFL agreement. EA's past clearly indicates that it only invests in innovation when it feels true competition from another product, which just isn't going to be the case now. I can just hear Stuart Scott bellowing "boo-yeah" as my linebacker dives 5 yards through the air to make a tackle, or as my defensive back leaps 12 feet high to pick off the pass that my quarterback threw to the wide side of the field while facing the short side of the field.

Okay, I'm exaggerating a bit due to my frustration. EA's games are not that bad. But honestly, what do gamers like me, who like to see innovation and movement towards the the most realistic sports experience possible, have to look forward to? I bought an Xbox years ago specifically because I felt EA sports games had gotten stale, and that was when 989, SEGA, and Microsoft were also making NFL games! I predict more of the same, unfortunately...