I posted this in another thread in December about the idea of a CFL video game. I'll reproduce it here:
The only way I can see the CFL getting any Madden action would be to align itself with the NFL in its licensing arrangement with EA Sports or whichever company concludes a subsequent deal for exclusivity rights for a NFL video game.
The concept: you want to sign CFL players in their option year in a future accord, well we want our video game rights tied to yours as part of the agreement in lieu of some of the monetary compensation we'd expect.
Which means: all subsequent deals to allow for option-year signings would be contingent upon a condition (among whatever others) that a CFL-standalone video game or packaged component would be developed in conjunction with the NFL's exclusivity rights as part of its deal.
So Madden 2012 would have a CFL-rules option or you get "Don Matthews Football 2012" brought to you by "Mr. Wright" 2 in association with Roger Goodell.
The royalties issue would be interesting to ponder. What is the market for a CFL-only video game? If the answer is small (and that seems to be the EA Sports perspective from what I gather), than the CFL's asking price on that side would be comparatively small/miniscule/non-existent for all the exposure the brand would get.
The issue for me as a fan is making the Canadian-brand of football more visible to an international audience...what that translate into moneywise is not my abacus's affair.
One thing is for sure: more visibility video game-wise would help the CFL TV and broadband package internationally. It couldn't hurt. The tradeoff in tying CFL video game development to the NFL exclusivity monopoly would be to raise the visibility of the brand thereby.
From my vantage point, I don't see the CFL getting a video game that has anything near the market saturation possibilities that would be worth it unless it leveraged a deal alongside the NFL like I'm describing.
If that doesn't fly, the maximum to expect is the current operational minimum of Maximum Football, if you get my drift.
Oski Wee Wee,
Last edited by oski-oui-oui on Dec 21, 2006 - 12:18 PM; edited 2 times in total