EA's NHL Exclusive License Deal Denied

I'm not certain I understand the article entirely; did the NHL nullify the NHLPA contract (is that even possible?) with EA, or will we have an NHL 2K7 with generic dudes next year?

Either way, kudos to the NHL and a sane reminder that I need to watch more hockey.
 
yea its good, the games are both good, it comes down to matter of opinion on that. Plus the NHL games isnt as big of a seller as the other franchises, so the NHL needs to have as much out there as possible. Though that gretzky game has to go
 
[quote name='mykevermin']I'm not certain I understand the article entirely; did the NHL nullify the NHLPA contract (is that even possible?) with EA, or will we have an NHL 2K7 with generic dudes next year?

Either way, kudos to the NHL and a sane reminder that I need to watch more hockey.[/QUOTE]
To sum it up:

The NHLPA tried to do an exclusive deal with EA, similar to what was done with MLB, 1st party would be ok but 3rd party NHLPA titles would be exclusive to EA.

The NHL found out secondhand that the NHLPA went behind their back and threatened to pull its license from EA (meaning that EA would have the official players but fake teams, and 2K would have fake players but real teams). The NHL can do that, because EA's contract is up this year.

The NHL is not happy at all with the NHLPA and won't accept any exclusive deals. They may opt for a deal where 2K and EA are the only two 3rd party licensees, but not one where EA is exclusive. The NHLPA essentially tried to undercut the NHL by cutting out 2K, an exclusive deal with the NHL wouldn't have been necessary and EA wouldn't have paid any extra money to the NHL, possibly even less money, since they'd seemingly be the only company interested since they're the only company with the players. And if 2K still got a license, EA would still be the only one with both the teams and players.

The NHLPA and EA would still like to do the exclusive deal, but the NHL is holding the cards here. Won't happen.
 
I'm glad the NHL has it's head on straight. The last thing I need is for the yearly NHL roster update to start costing $50. Glad the NHL got the old pimp stick out on the NHLPA again. Keep those fuckers in line.
 
To what other sport did EA get exclusive rights?

Whatever the case may be, EA seems to be getting real nasty towards the 2K franchise.
 
[quote name='capitalist_mao']To what other sport did EA get exclusive rights?

Whatever the case may be, EA seems to be getting real nasty towards the 2K franchise.[/QUOTE]
EA got exclusive rights to the NFL.

2K Sports got exclusive rights to MLB, except for 1st party games like Sony's, Nintendo's, or MS's, those can still be made officially.
 
[quote name='capitalist_mao']To what other sport did EA get exclusive rights?

Whatever the case may be, EA seems to be getting real nasty towards the 2K franchise.[/QUOTE]

EA has NFL, PGA, FIFA, Arena Football, NCAA Football, NASCAR, and I believe NCAA Baseball.
And hell, I'm probably forgetting one or two. Hell I think they even bought up the Canadian Football League, but I'm not sure on that one. And ESPN, which isn't a sport, but they still bought it out from under 2k, so I'm sure they would count it.

As to the hockey: Yeah, I would hate to see it go exclusive either way. 2k Makes an exceptional sim style game, where as EA's is much more arcade style. I would just be glad if either one of them would make a game that would top NHL 2004. Ah well, maybe next year...
 
[quote name='fxrival']I'm glad the NHL has it's head on straight. The last thing I need is for the yearly NHL roster update to start costing $50. Glad the NHL got the old pimp stick out on the NHLPA again. Keep those fuckers in line.[/QUOTE]

This is just a result of the spat between the NHL and the NHLPA. Don't ever think that the NHL has your best interests at heart - they'd screw you over with an exclusive deal if they could make more money doing it.
 
nhl goes to ea? The day that happens is the day you see smoke billowing from there headquaters and me walking away laughing with gasoline.
 
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