EA, John Madden Reach New Multi-Year Agreement

Electronic Arts has announced that it has signed a multi-year agreement with John Madden to continue to license his name, as well as appear in and consult on the development of future iterations of the Madden football series. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed. The Madden NFL Football franchise has now sold more than 43 million copies since its genesis in 1989, and continues to be the #1 football franchise and the all-time best selling sports franchise in North America. Although some analysts have argued EA is arguably in a dominant enough position with the exclusive license that it might not require Madden's support, it's clear that the name brand is still enormously important to the company. Madden, television analyst of ABC's Monday Night Football until the 2006 season, when he departs for NBC's Sunday games, has signed on following EA's exclusive NFL license deal last December, in which, through deals with both the NFL and Players Inc., EA will control the Nation Football League license for the next five years. The announcement, which had been unofficially confirmed for some time, coincides with the start of publicity for EA Sports Madden NFL 06, which is scheduled for release on August 9 for the Xbox, GameCube, PlayStation 2, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, and Sony PSP. "John Madden personifies authentic football in any medium -- television or interactive," said Electronic Arts Chairman and CEO Larry Probst. "We look forward to a great future with John in EA Sports Madden NFL."