Madden Gamers Suing EA

[JaoSming]

All over the NFL exclusivity deal.

http://www.gamespot.com/news/6192409.html

[mr2ksports]

oh this is bad news to all football fans!! there is no more competition.. so EA can make their price more expensive and the quality of the game more buggy or more shitty haha i hope this won't happen to other sports title

[benji]

They're going to have to find a judge with a very broad view of anti-trust laws to avoid this getting instantly dismissed.

The judge would basically have to find that the NFL has no right to license to whomever it wishes. It would effectively mean that no company with intellectual property rights could license to one sole company for any other means. They would no longer be able to license broadcast rights to one company, have one company make jerseys and other gear, etc. They would be forced, by the government, to contract themselves to whomever wants the license.

I doubt this gets anywhere at all.

[Andrew]

Do they have any kind of case as far as raising the prices after the exclusive deal was signed? I'm guessing not.

Judging by some of the comments on the Gamespot article and in response to pastapadre's analysis of the situation, it seems most people are focusing on the negative impact of a lack of competition and dissatisfaction with the EA brand, which is certainly valid but doesn't seem to be the issue. It's bad news for gamers but if the NFL is willing to exercise their right to sell exclusive licensing rights to the highest bidder, so be it. Seems like they're the ones to blame, not EA Sports. I'm sure Take-Two would happily have entered an exclusive agreement given the chance.

[benji]

And they did, with the MLB.

The raising of prices isn't too valid, as every Madden version before was $50, the prior 2K versions were, and All Pro was also priced the same as Madden before getting discounted everywhere. Since most games are $50 (now $60), Madden wasn't "price gouging" instead 2K was undercutting the market rate in hopes of gaining an advantage.

It is not an aggressive tactic under anti-trust law to come to an agreement with another company. EA did not force the NFL to sign with only them. The NFL said "who wants us?"

[Andrew]

Ah yes, I forgot Take-Two has the MLB license. Not to suggest that EA is perfect, but it's curious how people don't see that as a monopoly. I assume if Madden lived up to its expectations then we wouldn't be seeing this lawsuit.

[Patr1ck]

I believe they have no case at all against EA. It sounds like a big gripe. Having a monopoly of a genre and a monopoly of an industry are two different things. Sports gaming isn't an industry it is a genre of the video game industry.