As the NFL labor situation continues to be in a stalemate, many fans are left wondering if there will be a season next year.
The impact of a shortened season or even a canceled season looms large for local markets with teams. Cities with teams see a marked economic impact created around NFL home games, from workers at the stadium to taxes paid by the players, etc.
But it appears local markets won’t be the only ones impacted if there’s no season next year. EA’s popular video-game line of Madden Football could take a hit as well if there’s no season this year.
One of the best-selling games on the market could see the game lose 50% of its sales one analyst tells the Hollywood Reporter.
Michael Pachter, video game analyst at Wedbush Morgan Securities, believes the longer the lockout drags on, the more likely it is that NFL fans will become alienated. He said while Madden is a great experience for gamers, its sales are definitely correlated to the underlying popularity of the NFL, so if the popularity of the NFL suffers, it’s likely that sales of Madden will suffer.
“It’s still too early to call, since the lockout is happening in March and Madden launches in August,” said Pachter. “That’s a lot of time to fix things, although most commentators don’t sound very optimistic. My guess is that a complete cancellation of the NFL season would cost Madden around 50 percent of sales, and a delay of the season would be far less impactful. If the season is only delayed a week or two and fans aren’t alienated, there would be only a very small impact; if delayed through Thanksgiving (when the holiday selling season begins in earnest), the impact would be far greater.”
“Fans of Madden NFL will not have their seasons interrupted regardless of when the labor issues are resolved,” said Rob Semsey, director of public relations, EA Sports. “EA Sports will release Madden NFL 12 in August, complete with exciting new features and product innovation that will allow NFL fans to fill their desire for football.”
While the NFLPA has decertified, its agreement with EA Sports still provides for the use of the group license that allows the developer to use real players on the teams. Team and league symbols are licensed separately and therefore exempt from the current labor dispute.
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