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From the Arena to the Pasture

by on

EA has decided it has one exclusive football license too many. Can you guess which one got the boot?

NOT MADDEN
NOT MADDEN
For all the drama and incensed indignation that was sparked on the internet by EA's exclusive deal with the NFL, people got decidedly less worked up about EA's similar arrangement with the Arena Football League. For those few AFL fans who really wish Visual Concepts had gotten a crack at their beloved league, guess what! According to the Sports Business Journal, EA has declined to renew its agreement with the AFL, putting the license back up for grabs. Apparently the two Madden-ish AFL games that EA managed to squeeze out over the course of the three-year deal didn't really pan out that favorably.

Considering the relatively niche appeal of the league against the reliably top-selling NFL, plus the AFL video-game track record which includes the similarly derivative and regrettable Kurt Warner's Arena League Unleashed, it's not terribly surprising that Arena League games weren't flying off the shelves. Which--speaking as someone whose interest in pro sports borders on pathologically ambivalent--is a bit of a shame, because Arena League football is kind of awesome. I've (somehow) been to an AFL game, and the faster-paced action made it seem to me like perfect video-game fodder. But, as has been proven time and again, if your football game doesn't say Madden on the front, you've got a tough sell.

My apologies to our international readers for this story about the intricacies of a sport you couldn't care less about. As consolation, I offer you this video of an insane Russian soccer riot occurring hundreds of miles away from the game itself.

  
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Arena Football

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Ryan

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Edited By Ryan  Staff
NOT MADDEN
NOT MADDEN
For all the drama and incensed indignation that was sparked on the internet by EA's exclusive deal with the NFL, people got decidedly less worked up about EA's similar arrangement with the Arena Football League. For those few AFL fans who really wish Visual Concepts had gotten a crack at their beloved league, guess what! According to the Sports Business Journal, EA has declined to renew its agreement with the AFL, putting the license back up for grabs. Apparently the two Madden-ish AFL games that EA managed to squeeze out over the course of the three-year deal didn't really pan out that favorably.

Considering the relatively niche appeal of the league against the reliably top-selling NFL, plus the AFL video-game track record which includes the similarly derivative and regrettable Kurt Warner's Arena League Unleashed, it's not terribly surprising that Arena League games weren't flying off the shelves. Which--speaking as someone whose interest in pro sports borders on pathologically ambivalent--is a bit of a shame, because Arena League football is kind of awesome. I've (somehow) been to an AFL game, and the faster-paced action made it seem to me like perfect video-game fodder. But, as has been proven time and again, if your football game doesn't say Madden on the front, you've got a tough sell.

My apologies to our international readers for this story about the intricacies of a sport you couldn't care less about. As consolation, I offer you this video of an insane Russian soccer riot occurring hundreds of miles away from the game itself.

  
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digital_sin

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Edited By digital_sin

NFL BOOOO! I really hate sports games, I thought you guys were not gonna cover any of that.

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joey2683

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Edited By joey2683

EA sucks when it comes to the NFL rights.

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digital_sin

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Edited By digital_sin

I really hate sports game, specially the NFL games, they suck.
LOL, I saw that riot clip a while back, awesome!

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Mars_Cleric

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Edited By Mars_Cleric
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bagmanforhire

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Edited By bagmanforhire

man that sucks i love the AFL and the 1st game wasn't that bad

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Mars_Cleric

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Edited By Mars_Cleric

So Arena football is like ruby league and NFL is like union?
Except of course with all that wussy padding.

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Claude

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Edited By Claude
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AttackedCamo

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Edited By AttackedCamo

This sucks! They had some good ideas with the games, but they could never pull through with them. I honestly would love to see another AFL game. I played this a lot with friends because it was so fast paced. A couple things ruined my experiance with the AFL games though. #1. Ads played when you paused the game. #2. That stupid fast forward motion if you had a lead while running. #3. Same Arena every time you played. #4. Lame cut scenes that never led to anything.  Hopefully the AFL will find a new publisher/developer that can do the sport right.

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Stevokenevo

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Edited By Stevokenevo

didnt understand the story but hey! the video was worth watching.  i was imagining one of the riot police as vladamir putin using his black belt judo skills to kick ass.

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Death_Burnout

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Edited By Death_Burnout

Hit em with the chair!...THE CHAIR!

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ArbitraryWater

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Edited By ArbitraryWater

lol at soccer riots.
EA didn't renew their license to make games that don't sell? Sounds like a plan.

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Nintendude

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Edited By Nintendude

Never took the time to really understand american football enough to play a Madden game. Sports games are generally way too boring for me anyway so I'm not missing much for sure.

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ElectricHaggis

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Edited By ElectricHaggis

Ahhh, theres something comforting about a footb-.......sorry, soccer riot.

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Sniffulls

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Edited By Sniffulls

There should be some DLC for Left 4 Dead that changes the zombies into crazed soccer fans.... =O   

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Hexpane

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Edited By Hexpane

EA has ruined NFL videogaming forever.  The current Madden is an arcadey unrealistic mess.   You can throw for 45 TDs w/ any rookie QB in franchise mode just as well if not better than Peyton Manning.  All that matters in madden is the speed rating and height.  There is a glitch in their physics/animation which makes ALL TALL PLAYERS run faster than shorter players, even w/ the same speed rating...

Bunch of numnuts

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MrKlorox

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Edited By MrKlorox

Next time one of those retarded moronic sports riots breaks out, an artillery shell needs to be dropped on the place. These neanderthal fucktards need to be afraid of what will happen if they riot.