EA is reportedly “closing in” on a $588m (£488m) commercial soccer/football deal with the English Premier League.
According to a new report by Sky News (opens in new tab), 20 of the UK’s biggest soccer/football clubs were briefed yesterday about a proposed six-year deal with EA Sports that is “close to being finalized”.
An anonymous executive told Sky News that the deal would deliver “more than $96m/£80m annually” in a bid to retain one of soccer’s biggest draws, the Premier League.
According to the source, it would make EA the league’s “lead partner” and “retain its exclusive electronic game licence”, suggesting the league would have an exclusive deal with EA Sports.
We knew things were up between EA and FIFA when EA filed an application in the UK and the EU for something called ‘EA Sports FC’ (opens in new tab) last October, publicly stating that it was “exploring the idea of renaming [its] global EA Sports football games” and moving away from the FIFA brand.
Fast-forward to March last year, and rumor had it, it looked like EA was indeed rebranding its smash-hit FIFA franchise as EA Sports Football Club (opens in new tab).
Interestingly enough, the trademarks were filed shortly before the company revealed it was “reviewing [its] naming rights agreement with FIFA, which is separate from all our other official partnerships and licenses across the football world”. At the time, we were reminded that EA Sports Football Club was a FIFA social feature that ran from 2011 until 2020, so it was possibly connected to that. Now, however, it feels more likely that it may indeed be FIFA’s new name.
EA Sports FC is the brand new football series coming from EA, with FIFA 23 (opens in new tab) marking its final entry in that franchise. Its replacement won’t be here until late in 2023, but even so, EA has already shared details surrounding some of its licenses. What will this fresh start mean for Ultimate Team, women’s squads, Creation Centre, and other in-game features? Here’s everything we know so far about EA Sports FC (opens in new tab).
EA Sports close to finalizing a deal with the English Premier League
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