Malcolm_Roberts June 9, 2009 Features, Industry 11 views Comments Print This Post  Email This Post

Everybody knows the legendary  Madden franchise, if only because it  is currently the only football game on the videogame market.  It looks like the action will not only be on the gridiron but also in a courtroom soon.

A judge in San Francisco recently forwarded a case involving two plaintiffs who sued EA for having a monopoly over the NFL license that includes current players’ and teams’ likenesses.  The Judge, in turning down EA’s request to dismiss, wrote that “interactive video football software’ is a recognizable product market for anti-trust purposes”.

The suit that was filed against EA follows a reasonable line on how they became a monopoly.  Before EA had exclusive rights they competed with 2K Sports for the majority of the football market.  2K Sports was making a name for themselves by having a high quality football title in their NFL 2K series.  That product line died when EA paid for exclusive rights over the NFL license. Back when Take-Two was part of the football market, prices were reduced in order for the two to compete with each other.  Madden was $29.99 and NFL 2K5  was priced at $19.99.  Then when EA gained exclusive rights they marked the price back up too $49.99.

These court proceedings could benefit consumers by inspiring competition in the marketplace once again.  The NFL license has been proven to be extremely valuable as 2K found out when they released All-Pro Football 2K8 without current players or real teams.  Making the license accessible to more than one party would not likely bring the prices down but could put the pressure on Electronic Arts to continue to offer better quality product each year and put an end to the Madden Curse (at least for 2K).