Madden NFL 15 Features a $99 Micro-transaction; Several Ultimate Team Items Behind Non-Progression Paywall

[Mr Khan]

mornelithe said:

Mr Khan said:

mornelithe said:

Well, not that I don't think EA salivated over this, but it also may have to do with the NFL's recent statement about wanting to increase revenue to $25 billion by 2027 (currently at around ~10b now).  They're actually selling the Super Bowl Halftime show to the highest bidder this year, and are otherwise moving to monetize in as many ways possible.  So, yeah, EA may have had some hand in this (obviously), but I'm almost positive it was at the behest of the NFL.

Increase revenue by 150%? Are they mad?

Yeah, they've gone over the deep end on increasing profit in the NFL.  The expansion of the reg season to 18 games, expanding playoff teams, moving the draft etc... are all part of a plan to spread the NFL season as far as they possibly can beyond the borders of the reg/post-season.  Mark Cuban (Mavs owner, NBA), recently said regarding the NFL's policies of late, "Pigs get fat, hogs get slaughtered, and they're getting hoggy".  Quite true really.

That just seems like a recipe for overexposure: exhausted players and increasingly apathetic fans. Football may be the biggest of the major sports in terms of popularity and cultural impact, but everything has its limits, as the NFL will soon discover.

It would seem the easier strategy would be to cook up a few new teams. Salt Lake City, Los Angeles, and Portland OR would be easy targets. Maybe Omaha?