It's a tired old cliche to say that EA and 2K are doing badly with the sports titles, and it is also tired old cliche to say that they got worse since it the contracts for them were made exclusive. 

Or the arenas were trademarked....I think that was a thing somewhere. Not sure the exact franchise...

The question I'm wondering is if it would be possible to use a lawsuit to break the contracts open earlier and without the ability to get them renewed? I'm no legal expert, but there should be something you can weaponize. 

Monopoly, Unfair Business Practices, brand damage...something. 

(I'll fully admit the thought came to me at first as a 'how to hurt E.A' thought after the Switch Legacy edition was announced, so I am asking this in part out of sheer spite. But hey, we all hate EA so.....)

EA and 2k are doing a great job. The games themselves are good. The only issue people have is monetization.

If there was a way to achieve this with lawsuits (which I certainly wouldn't support), don't you think these giant publishing companies would have made it happen by now?

Both parties signed a contract and only them have saying in canceling it. No point in a third party entering a lawsuit to be allowed to use the properties or names or any other way to null the contract. And if anyone granted that it would be preposterous.

Ok, serious question. Why doesn't anyone just make a sports game... without licenses? No expensive players, no corrupt sports organization... just a good sports simulator. Does the name really carry so much power it makes competition impossible?

People do make these games. You don't hear about them cause they flop.

Not in the case of Madden. EA actually had a competitor in that sport, and it was very successful - until EA simply bought the exclusive rights to the NFL. In other words, no other company is allowed to make an american Football game anymore, down to the rules!

So yeah, since no other was allowed to get an NFL license anymore, EA killed all potential competition with that move.

To be clear, the NFL actually offered that exclusivity to the highest bidder, and EA won. The NFL was the ones deciding to kill competition, not EA.

True, but the end result is the same. And I wonder who had that dumb idea at the NFL - wouldn't they earn more by having several licensees?

I wish that were possible. Ever since they bought out the competition, Madden has been doodoo. But EA doesn't care, because they make fucktons of money thanks to MUT. It's hilarious because in other sports, like hockey and college football, they've had no monopoly, but those games are/were still very well made and full of enthusiasm and fun new elements. Madden (and from what I've heard, FIFA, but idk because idc about soccer) are just cash grabs now with very little focus put on gameplay and refinement and more and more focus on how to squeeze some more revenue out of MUT.

There are loads of these, especially on PC. But yes, the names of real teams and players carries that much weight. The last big attempt was All-Pro Football 2k8, which was a football title with no real teams and the players were real NFL legends like John Jesus Elway and Barry Sanders. It looked and played amazing, but no one cared because it didn't have Tom Brady or the Dallas Cowboys.