We recently learned that EA would consider changing the name of its football game, thus abandoning the FIFA brand. Behind this reorientation, it seems that there are stalled negotiations between the two parties.
FIFA and Electronic Arts would not be able to reach an agreement on the amount to be paid, and on the content covered by the sum.
FIFA more and more greedy?
A few days ago, EA announced that it was seriously considering changing the name of its football game. The successors of FIFA 22 could therefore not be named FIFA 23, FIFA 24, but EA Sport FC, the name having been registered quite recently. Nothing is official yet, but Cam Weber, Managing Director of EA Sport, hasn't publicly made this statement for no reason. According to the New York Times, FIFA, which currently receives 150 million dollars a year, would require more than double to continue the adventure. Over four years, that would bring the cost to over $XNUMX billion.
The American daily reports, however, that the sum requested by FIFA is not the only problem that could lead to divorce. The two entities would not be able to find common ground on what a new exclusivity agreement would contain. A situation that challenged Peter Moore, former leader of the group now general manager of Liverpool FC: "I do not remember that they ever published a statement saying that we were in negotiations for a renewal of the license".
300 partners and license agreements already extended
Despite everything, the leaders of Electronic Arts do not seem to be alarmed by the situation. The game currently does not have a competitor to match, and the FIFA license only concerns the name, the official logo and the editions dedicated to the World Cup. Everything else is probably negotiated with more than 300 other partners, including FIFPro, an organization representing professional players, and with whom the contract was officially extended yesterday, without the name FIFA being mentioned once.
There are also clubs, a number of national championships, UEFA, the Bundesliga or the Premier League and many others. Suffice to say that if EA abandons the FIFA brand, the repercussions on the content should be minimal. On the other hand, in such a situation, EA would have a lot to do in terms of communication in order not to lose its audience.
