FIFA license deal in limbo as EA boss claims the game is bigger than FIFA itself EA SPORTSFIFA 22 looks set to be one of the last EA SPORTS titles to feature the official FIFA branding, based on comments from Electronic Arts CEO Andrew Wilson \u2013 calling the current arrangement an \u201cimpediment.\u201d A public dispute over license exclusivity has been raging on between EA and FIFA, with the latter opening up the possibility of selling their lucrative naming rights to multiple developers in the gaming space. EA has enjoyed exclusive access to those naming rights for over two decades, though a statement posted in October 2021 revealed the publisher was \u201cexploring\u201d the option of renaming the series. Trademarks have since been filed for EA SPORTS FC \u2013 branding used in previous games \u2013 across Europe and the United States. In a press release posted on October 7, EA said: \u201cAs we look ahead, we\u2019re also exploring the idea of renaming our global EA SPORTS football games. \u201cThis means we\u2019re reviewing our naming rights agreement with FIFA, which is separate from all our other official partnerships and licenses across the football world.\u201d Since then, FIFA has announced that no single developer will be able to exploit their name with exclusivity agreements, at the close of the current deal. This means that while Electronic Arts may continue their series under another title, 2K Sports or another studio could take the name for the right price. EA claim 300 other licenses are being considered On February 23, VGC reported EA CEO Andrew Wilson updated staff on the situation, back in November 2021. He said: \u201cI\u2019m going to be more open\u2026 more open than I\u2019ve been with the outside world. \u201cWe\u2019ve had a great relationship with FIFA over the past 30-odd years. We\u2019ve created billions in value\u2026 it\u2019s just huge. We\u2019ve created one of the biggest entertainment properties on the planet. \u201cI would argue \u2013 and this may be a little biased \u2013 that the FIFA brand has more meaning as a video game than it does a governing body of soccer. We don\u2019t take that for granted and we try not to be arrogant. We\u2019ve worked really hard to try and make FIFA understand what we need for the future.\u201d One of the most eye-catching parts of the statement was Wilson\u2019s description of the current deal. He said: \u201cAs we\u2019ve looked to the future we want to grow the franchise, and ironically the FIFA license has actually been an impediment to that.\u201d EA claim 300 other licenses are being considered FIFA reportedly wants $1 billion every four years from EA SPORTS for them to continue their current partnership, with the current license expiring after the 2022 Qatar World Cup. To that point, Wilson commented on the World Cup specifically. He added: \u201cBasically, what we get from FIFA in a non-World Cup year is the four letters on the front of the box, in a world where most people don\u2019t even see the box anymore because they buy the game digitally.\u201d \u201cIn a World Cup year, of course, we get access to the World Cup, but in the broader context of global football on an annualized basis, the World Cup is important but it\u2019s not the most important. We have 300 other licenses that give us the content that our players engage with the most and the most deeply.\u201d This opens the door for other advertising partners, such as Nike or Adidas, to get around the negotiating table with EA SPORTS for a future arrangement, meaning a change in the series\u2019 name looks more likely than ever before.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
FIFA license deal in limbo as EA boss claims the game is bigger than FIFA itself EA SPORTSFIFA 22 looks set to be one of the last EA SPORTS titles to feature the official FIFA branding, based on comments from Electronic Arts CEO Andrew Wilson \u2013 calling the current arrangement an \u201cimpediment.\u201d A public dispute […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-68746","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68746","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=68746"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68746\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=68746"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=68746"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=68746"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}