EA and NFL deny reports of exclusive deal
EA Sports' rivals heave a sigh of relief as reports are decried as false.
Both Electronic Arts and the NFL Players Association have moved to deny reports that they are working towards a major exclusive deal for player rights licensing, with the Sports Business Journal retracting its original story.
"The story published in Sports Business Journal includes some serious errors related to agreements between EA and its partners," Electronic Arts spokesman Glen O'Connell told gi.biz. "The financials reported in the story are incorrect by an order of magnitude and the NFL Players Association has contacted the publisher to request a correction."
The NFL Players Association has also separately denied the reports, which suggested that EA would enter into a four-year exclusive licensing deal with Players, Inc (NFLPA's licensing arm) costing some $250 million per year.