EA Sports and the English Premier League (EPL) are close to striking a six year commercial partnership that would total more than $588 million.
Following the announcement that EA Sports and FIFA’s 30+ year relationship will be coming to an end after the FIFA 23 cycle, many were worried about how EA Sports would handle retaining the rights to the top leagues. The English Premier League, arguably the largest and most lucrative soccer league in the world, was no doubt target number one for EA Sports. According to reports from Sky Sports, the 20 Premier League clubs were briefed on the deal in the last week. According to one team executive, the deal is worth more than $96 million annually (more than double the existing deal with both parties).
The current deal with the Premier League not only allows for a realistic in-game experience, but also has the EA Sports logo on the referee’s jerseys for all EPL matches, along with elements of the game day experience. With the expansion of the partnership, EA Sports would be guaranteed to keep the EPL in their most lucrative feature of their game, Ultimate Team mode. The extension with the EPL comes about one year after EA Sports struck a deal with Spanish soccer league, La Liga, which included title naming rights for all La Liga competitions and allowed for a more immersive in-game experience for gamers playing with La Liga teams.
As announced by EA Sports, July 2023 will see the name of their soccer gaming title change to EA Sports FC, officially marking the ending of 30 years of FIFA named soccer games by the publisher. EA Sports reassured gamers that the game wouldn’t change much after the partnership with FIFA ends, but would allow EA Sports more creative freedom over the game and the 300 licenses EA Sports has secured with teams and leagues all over the world.
Image from: EA Sports/EPL
