NFL, EA Sports Agree to Extend 'Madden' Partnership Contract Through April 2031

The NFL and EA Sports announced Wednesday an extension to their long-running partnership.

The deal will see Madden NFL remain the exclusive video game franchise for the league through at least April 2031.

"EA Sports and the NFL have built one of the most iconic partnerships in all of sports and entertainment, and we see so much opportunity ahead to deliver for football fans everywhere," EA Sports president Cam Weber said.

"With more than 2 billion games of Madden NFL played each year, the global community of football fans connecting through play has never been bigger. Together with the NFL, we will continue to shape the interactive future of football — expanding Madden NFL, growing College Football, and creating new breakthrough experiences for the next generation of fans."

EA and the NFL first signed an exclusivity deal in 2004. From that point forward, Madden became the only licensed game on the market for the most part.

A few alternatives sprang up over the years. 2K released All-Pro Football 2K8 in 2007, which featured NFL legends on generic teams. Midway revived the Blitz series for a pair of games in 2005 and 2008. The first Maximum Football launched in 2018 and its newest installment hit stores in June as a free-to-play game.

EA Sports has also experimented with arcade-style offerings such NFL Street, NFL Tour and an NFL Blitz reboot in 2012.

Otherwise, Madden has been the only game in town. Between its position in the market and football's broad popularity, the franchise has remained a commercial powerhouse.

Madden NFL 25 was third in sales among sports games and sixth overall in 2024. Thanks to the rise of Ultimate Team, in-game microtransactions have become a massive source of revenue for EA as well.

Gamers might've wished that the NFL would open the door for some competition, but the league had little reason to disrupt the status quo.