NBA rejects EA"s bid for exclusivity, plus more dealings behind the scenes in the sports game arena.
Last week, Electronic Arts, the NFL, and Players Inc. sent shockwaves throughout the gaming industry as they announced an unprecedented five-year exclusivity partnership. But it looks like Electronic Arts had even bigger plans as they also bid on exclusive arrangements with the NBA. Sources have told me, however, that the NBA has rejected EA"s initial offer.
One of the reasons is that the NBA Live series simply doesn"t have a stranglehold on the market the way Madden has for years, so by signing an exclusive deal with EA, the NBA would actually be losing money. There are simply too many NBA video game properties that sell big units for the deal to make sense, from the ESPN NBA series to NBA Ballers to 989"s games that are set to hit both the PS2 and PSP.