2 gamers sue EA for NFL exclusivity

[MSUHitman]

See a blurb about the lawsuit here:
http://www.tmz.com/2008/06/11/geeks-to-madden-jock-block-this/

[happy]

This seems about as dumb as baseball suing the fantasy sports sites for using statistics

[primetime]

Some people just need to let it go.

[Chacrana]

They don't have a monopoly on football games, as the other, non-NFL games clearly point out. They have a monopoly on NFL-licensed games, but obviously, suing them for that would be ridiculous.

I hope they lose a lot of money on legal fees.

[VanillaGorilla]

I would like to sue SEGA then for their exclusive Iron Man games.

I would also like to sue Atari for their exclusive Dragon Ball Z games.

This lawsuit is almost as stupid as the GameSpot forum members posting comments about it in their news section.

[Mr_hockey66]

I dont know what the big deal is? The football games on nintendo suck anyways. How do I know what system they have you ask????

Cause they are WII-tarded!





I know. I know!


You know you laughed.

[mtxbass1]

Jacked up the price? I don't get that. All next-gen games are 59.99.

This lawsuit is going to get thrown out of court faster than Jack Thompson.

[seanr1221]

If All Pro is any indication, I don't WANT other people making NFL games :roll:

[KingBroly]

Oh if this is true, they'll win. There are sooooo many points that are valid to why the EA deal with the NFL is illegal (which, btw, by all accounts it is).

[KingofOldSchool]

I'm going to sue THQ for having exclusive rights to WWE games.

[VanillaGorilla]

Oh if this is true, they'll win. There are sooooo many points that are valid to why the EA deal with the NFL is illegal (which, btw, by all accounts it is).Yes, soooooo many points, which is why that ILLEGAL EA-NFL deal has been contested sooooooo many times in court.

:roll:

[Chacrana]

Oh if this is true, they'll win. There are sooooo many points that are valid to why the EA deal with the NFL is illegal (which, btw, by all accounts it is).

Err... how could that deal possibly be illegal?

[Chacrana]

no 1 cares about ur so called legal facts. if sega has proof of ilelgal activty then they can sue ea it just takes proof time paperwork and fees 4 procesing i know the printcedure. if they have no proof then i think ea can counter sue.

You're a piece of shit and so is your typing ability.

[primetime]

Err... how could that deal possibly be illegal?

U don't know the printcedure 4 it.

[SpikeJonez]

i hope ea shits on these guys

[Friend of Sonic]

Jacked up the price? I don't get that. All next-gen games are 59.99.

This lawsuit is going to get thrown out of court faster than Jack Thompson.
Maybe they're referring to how the 2K series last generation used to cost 19.99? That was pretty bad ass being able to get a new sports game for twenty bucks.

[bardockkun]

Who cares?! WE'RE GETTING A TECMO BOWL! What more do you want in life?!?!

[heavyd853]

I think its more the fact that they have the licenses to every league of (American) football in the world(?), which could be a decent argument for anti competitive action.

[benjamouth]

I heard somewhere that the NFL wanted an exclusive deal as they thought it would lead to less confusion if there was only one licensed NFL game.

If thats true I doubt this case will hold much water.

[TimPV3]

People get stupid over football. Remember the big fuss over the NFL trying to put the last game of the Patriot's season on the NFL Network, but a shitload of lawmakers urged them to put it on free TV?

I don't know, it would have been nice if they did this 3 years ago before Madden became the better game than 2K (it's a fact now, stop being delusional)

[Chacrana]

I think its more the fact that they have the licenses to every league of (American) football in the world(?), which could be a decent argument for anti competitive action.

Well yeah, they've got Arena and NFL licenses, but I doubt that's monopolizing the market for football games... there's still All-Pro Football, Blitz: The League, and (as someone else mentioned) Tecmo Bowl... EA's got a major advantage having football licenses, but I dunno how that can be considered unfair competition.

[BillyBob29]

I heard somewhere that the NFL wanted an exclusive deal as they thought it would lead to less confusion if there was only one licensed NFL game.

If thats true I doubt this case will hold much water.

Yes, that is true. The NFL first floated the idea of going exclusive with one developer/publisher and EA jumped at the offer quicker than Oprah on a cheescake.

[Tsukento]

I would also like to sue Atari for their exclusive Dragon Ball Z games.
You'd lose the case. Atari only publishes the games in the US. Japan has been making the games since Budokai. The only ones really made AT Atari have been the Legacy of Goku games. The odd one out is Sagas, which was made by a different developer who seems to have fallen off the face of the Earth.

[daroga]

Isn't it the NFL who should be sued? Is it EA's fault that the NFL gave them the rights for an agreed amount of money. It's not like EA threatened to hurt the NFL's family unless they could be the only one.

In the end it's the NFL making the field non-competitive, not EA.

[mogshaz]

Isn't it the NFL who should be sued? Is it EA's fault that the NFL gave them the rights for an agreed amount of money. It's not like EA threatened to hurt the NFL's family unless they could be the only one.

In the end it's the NFL making the field non-competitive, not EA.


No one should be sued, Its the NFL and the NFL player's association names and likenesses to be sold.

[elwood731]

No one should be sued, Its the NFL and the NFL player's association names and likenesses to be sold.

Eh, I'm not so sure someone wouldn't have a case against them. The NFL is in a unique position compared to most businesses. The NFL, similar to MLB, basically has an anti-trust exemption. This is what keeps anyone from starting their own NFL team and trying to compete. Basically, the NFL is anti-competitive and fully controls its business. That's generally illegal. This is also why NFL games are on Sundays, college on Saturdays, and high school on Fridays.

Now, directly none of this has much to do with video games. However, someone could make an argument that since the NFL is getting some legal exceptions, they shouldn't be allowed to enter into exclusive deals that prohibit outside competition. For example, while Coca-Cola may be able to buy sponsorship as the "exclusive" soda of the NFL, it would seem a little unfair for that to exclude Pepsi from ever featuring an NFL player in an ad. In that area, there's probably at least an argument to be made. Would it win? Probably not.

[daroga]

No one should be sued, Its the NFL and the NFL player's association names and likenesses to be sold.Right. My point was that if you're going to call foul play on the deal, the fault lies with the NFL, not EA.

I don't believe there's any proof of anything wrong going on here. It sucks since 2K5 still is the bar the Madden is trying (poorly) to get to, but whatever. I just play that when I get the itch for football.

[ElwoodCuse]

It's not illegal, just dumb.

You didn't see Nike and Puma and Adidas sue the NFL when they decided to give Reebok the exclusive apparel license.

Now the NFL Network and Sunday Ticket and whatnot, THAT is illegal and a huge antitrust problem that the government needs to get involved with.

[62t]

dunno maybe a senator will get upset when he finds there is only one football game.

[dyeknom]

I'd like to sue the American population for making Football a multi-billion dollar industry. It's entertainment and provides very little to society other than extra pollution, tons of people with head trauma and a few hundred minimum wage jobs per stadium.

[darkcecil32]

dunno maybe a senator will get upset when he finds there is only one football game.

Yea, and his name will be Arlen Specter (sp?) :)

[VanillaGorilla]

I'd like to sue the American population for making Football a multi-billion dollar industry. It's entertainment and provides very little to society other than extra pollution, tons of people with head trauma and a few hundred minimum wage jobs per stadium.Possibly the dumbest thing I have ever seen posted on the internet.

[smellhasreturned]

I actually hope they win <_<

I seriously want a new 2k Football game with the NFL

[dyeknom]

Possibly the dumbest thing I have ever seen posted on the internet.

Not quite. Professional sports are a joke, period. Society is in a slump, in a large part because of our f'ed up priorities. We pay our "professional" entertainers infinitely more than our educators... and people wonder why we have a terrible education system? Or people wonder why a lot of youth have little-to-no work ethic? But it's okay that we subject children, yes children (scouts look for the next Micheal Jordan as early as 6th-9th grade) to physical and mental suffering as "conditioning" for a lucrative game... potentially losing our (and the next generation) next Oppenheimer or Einstein? A loss caused by a few aspects of "the game" including brain damage (yes, a link between football and brain damage *SHOCK*) or simply leaving them uneducated because they want a "quick ride" to the "pros." Give me a break, climb back into your hovel.

As far as this being anti-competitive. This is a value judgment. Is an exclusive licensing agreement good or bad? The EU has addressed a similar issue with FIFA (and while EU has stricter anti-competition laws they've said that certain anti-competitive agreements are necessary (as it applies to exclusive licensing). Personally, the selling/marketing of an "image" is about the most shallow thing I've ever heard. Anti-competitive? Yes. It's not like they've copyrighted the game itself. Other publishers are allowed to publish games in this sport.

An argument, however, does exist for the two people bringing the suit. They can show the vast disparity between these other franchises (some of whom are well established) and the EA franchises and how it is nearly impossible to break into a realistic sport simulation market. They can also show EA as casting out a net on all sports and gobbling up every license in an effort to push/discourage other developers from getting into the market. Just wait until they attempt to get Sony/Microsoft to sign exclusivity deals regarding sport software.

[VanillaGorilla]

Not quite. Professional sports are a joke, period. Society is in a slump, in a large part because of our f'ed up priorities. We pay our "professional" entertainers infinitely more than our educators... and people wonder why we have a terrible education system? Or people wonder why a lot of youth have little-to-no work ethic? But it's okay that we subject children, yes children (scouts look for the next Micheal Jordan as early as 6th-9th grade) to physical and mental suffering as "conditioning" for a lucrative game... potentially losing our (and the next generation) next Oppenheimer or Einstein? A loss caused by a few aspects of "the game" including brain damage (yes, a link between football and brain damage *SHOCK*) or simply leaving them uneducated because they want a "quick ride" to the "pros." Give me a break, climb back into your hovel.

As far as this being anti-competitive. This is a value judgment. Is an exclusive licensing agreement good or bad? The EU has addressed a similar issue with FIFA (and while EU has stricter anti-competition laws they've said that certain anti-competitive agreements are necessary (as it applies to exclusive licensing). Personally, the selling/marketing of an "image" is about the most shallow thing I've ever heard. Anti-competitive? Yes. It's not like they've copyrighted the game itself. Other publishers are allowed to publish games in this sport.

An argument, however, does exist for the two people bringing the suit. They can show the vast disparity between these other franchises (some of whom are well established) and the EA franchises and how it is nearly impossible to break into a realistic sport simulation market. They can also show EA as casting out a net on all sports and gobbling up every license in an effort to push/discourage other developers from getting into the market. Just wait until they attempt to get Sony/Microsoft to sign exclusivity deals regarding sport software.The newest stupidest thing I have ever read on the internet.

[daroga]

Football is bad because it makes a lot of money and people get hurt doing it?

Probably just get rid of the construction industry too.

[Azumangaman]

The newest stupidest thing I have ever read on the internet.
Vanilla Gorrila is love.
Seriously football is wonderful. You just hate life :P