d36williams wrote:The NFL's endorsed monopoly has allowed NFL video games to whither. The NFL was mad at NFL 2k at one point, for cutting their prices below what the NFL considered the minimum threshold to establish elite brand credibility. The NFL doesn't allow anything to exist with their brand that isn't marked up considerably. <--- that's one story I've read as to why the NFL settled on an EA monopoly.
Either way the bleak lack of competition and a captured audience has brought it down quite a bit. I do think Madden for a long time was an incredible educational tool, and a wealth of ways to play. I think the NFL under appreciated the role of video games in developing an even more entrenched audience. In many ways football ratings peaked in the mid 2000s through 2015, and a lot of that had to do with people who played Madden being in their 20s and having time to watch loads of football. I'm older now and can't even make all the time for the Cowboys. With the Madden/EA decay, I think the NFL is losing out on that long running pipeline of fans. There are many factors that led to the ratings decay in 2016-2020, and in 2021 they are finally rebounding a bit. But I do think the halcyon days of TV ratings were the 90s-2015ish, and a lot of that was driven by video games.
I remember being a kid c1995 playing Madden on PC, developing my own plays, and using a keyboard.
Madden offers quite a bit over say, Temco Bowl, but I wonder if EA ever realized that. Without John Madden around, to be a powerful personality and set very high standards, it all just seems to have fallen apart.
yeah I noticed this too.
The Madden04-08 rosters, I might know most of the players, who is good, who is not good. Who are the special players on the team etc.
I have followed the NFL ever since, but most players, I have no idea who they are. Especially the less-broadcast teams or the teams that I don't watch a lot. (as a Steelers fan, I watch more AFC North than NFC for example).
If Madden were really good, I'd probably know most players on most teams.
I think the NFL is underestimating this aspect. Madden is a big part of investment in the NFL. If Madden is utter shit, then that rubs off to the NFL.