One of the most enduring franchises in the Electronic Arts
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
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
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.