NBA rejects EA\'s bid for exclusivity

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December 20, 2004 - Rumors, rumors everywhere, and everyone is talking about one thing, EA\'s attempt to take over the world...or at least the world of video games.
Last week, Electronic Arts, the NFL, and Players Inc. sent shockwaves throughout the gaming industry as they announced an unprecedented five-year exclusivity partnership. But it looks like Electronic Arts had even bigger plans as they also had talks about an exclusive arrangement with the NBA. Sources have told me, however, that the NBA has rejected EA\'s initial offer.

One of the reasons is that the NBA Live series simply doesn\'t have a stranglehold on the market the way Madden has for years, so by signing an exclusive deal with EA, the NBA would actually be losing money. There are simply too many NBA video game properties that sell big units for the deal to make sense, from the ESPN NBA series to NBA Ballers to 989\'s games that are set to hit both the PS2 and PSP.

Sources aren\'t quite as clear in terms of potential dealings with Major League Baseball as a few publishers were worried a deal was already in place for EA to step in and take over like they did with the NFL. But after the EA/NFL deal went down, at least one publisher was able to re-up their MLB contract for three more games, so it looks like a false alarm as the only exclusive EA was able to lockup for the time being was the NFL.

In other EA news, they were able to purchase 20% of Ubisoft on Monday. What does that have to do with sports games, you might ask. Well, Ubisoft is developing the And1 street hoops game to compete with NBA Street V3. Whether or not this puts an end to the game\'s development, we\'ll have to wait and see.

IGN Article

Damn. I wonder if NHL will give in?

EA is making huge business decisions lately, but they\'re probably going to have a negative effect on gaming as a whole.

-Dan

holding out for more money i guess

EA is out to ruin gaming.... seriously

The NBA probably makes more money than the NFL overall. Makes sense.

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Plus EA hates gamers...

Originally posted by Halberto
The NBA probably makes more money than the NFL overall. Makes sense.

Definately not. The NFL is the most profitable league in North America.

The NBA has never been as big on exclusive contracts as the NFL is. The NFL has exclusives with DirecTV, Sirius, and EA. You would think they would make more money with the an NFL Sunday Ticket on ALL cable/sat providers but I guess not.

[§ôµÏG®ïñD]

I don\'t know what to say, EA seem to be trying to get a grip on everything. They\'re the M$ of gaming. I hope something happens to make them lose shitloads of cash.

I was trying to find some actual revenue numbers, but i\'d imagine the NFL makes much more money than the NBA

The thing with NFL is though there are much more costs.  Big teams, big stadiums, big fields, etc...  People can just be just as much a fan for NBA teams which are smaller, can pack more spectators in, and the courts are cheaper to produce.

I\'m more a fan of NFL though.  I can get into it more than an NBA game with big names.  I\'d also like to know which league generates more profits & revenue.

^^There are bigger teams but they get paid less. Especially If you consider that a second(or third) tier guy like Carlos Boozer makes more in the NBA than top tier guys in the NFL.

The NFL makes more money because they have a bananas TV deal, large stadiums, and a hard salary cap. The NBA and MLB can\'t touch the NFL\'s TV deal.

On a sidenote : the salary caps are a good thing imo. Why should some basketball player make millions while there are professions which contribute a whole lot more to society which do not even earn a fraction of that NBA salary.