One of the most enduring franchises in the Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:ERTS) portfolio got a major lift when the leading video game software company signed exclusive five-year deals with the NFL and its players organization.
The key word there is exclusive. That doesn't just mean that its flagship John Madden Football line and its upstart NFL Street arcade platform will keep using real NFL teams, stadiums, player names, and player likenesses. It also means that other game makers won't be able to.
That's huge when you consider how Take-Two Interactive (NASDAQ:TTWO) made a splash earlier this year by rolling out its ESPN NFL 2K5 at an attractive $19.95 price point. With Terrell Owens on the cover and the trusted brand of broadcasting titan Disney's (NYSE:DIS) ESPN, a lot was at stake. Because folks tend to update their football games every year to keep their players current, EA couldn't afford to have a rival nibbling away at its market share at half the price of its own line.
Even with rock-bottom pricing, it's going to be hard for Take-Two to win over buyers with fictional gridiron pigskin heavers. Overnight, the potential for ESPN NFL 2K6 and beyond was shut down like a lackadaisical quarterback facing an all-out blitz.
While you may not shed a tear for Take-Two, as it still has its monster Grand Theft Auto franchise to grow, the question now becomes what Motley Fool Stock Advisor stock pick Electronic Arts will do with its exclusive power.
The software publisher is already promising the next generation of interactive football gaming, given that the exclusive rights bleed over into online games as well. Providing real-time experiences during the NFL season holds infinite promise for game developers, and EA is certainly qualified to make it worth getting excited about.
Just as the NFL granting exclusive rights to satellite specialists like DirecTV (NYSE:DTV) and Sirius Satellite Radio (NASDAQ:SIRI) has given those companies a leg up in programming, it's daunting to think that a giant like EA can only get bigger and better from here.
How is your favorite football team doing this year? How do you feel about EA hogging the NFL pie? What features would you like to see in the next-generation football game? All this and more in the 77's Foolish House of Pigskin discussion board. Only on Fool.com.
Longtime Fool contributor Rick Munarriz is a fan of ESPN and Madden. He owns shares in Disney but no other company mentioned in this story. He is part of the Rule Breakers newsletter research team, seeking out tomorrow's ultimate growth stocks a day early.
