FIFA, the world governing body for football, announced it will follow a new commercial strategy in gaming and eSports, thus signalling the end of its long-standing partnership with EA Sports.
The American gaming company released its first FIFA game on 15 December 1993 and the recent FIFA22 was released in October 2021.
More than 325 million copies have been sold so far. The game has netted EA revenues of more than $20 billion over the past two decades and the licensing agreement became FIFA’s single-most valuable deal, worth approximately $150 million per year.
On Friday, a couple of days after New York Times reported that EA was planning to part ways with FIFA after negotiations on their latest contract fell through, the football body said it would
adopt a new commercial positioning to ensure that it is best placed to make decisions that benefit all football stakeholders.
“FIFA is bullish and excited about the future in gaming and eSports for football, and it is clear that this needs to be a space that is occupied by more than one party controlling all rights,” a statement on its website said.
“Technology and mobile companies are now actively competing to be associated with FIFA, its platforms, and global tournaments. Consequently, FIFA is engaging with various industry players, including developers, investors and analysts, to build out a long-term view of the gaming, eSports and interactive entertainment sector.
“The outcome will ensure that FIFA has a range of suitable parties with specialist capabilities to actively shape the best possible experiences and offerings for fans and consumers.”
The current 10-year agreement between the two organisations end after next year’s World Cup in Qatar.
In a letter addressed to fans, EA’s Group GM Cams Weber said: “As we look ahead, we’re also exploring the idea of renaming our global EA SPORTS football games. This means we’re reviewing our naming rights agreement with FIFA, which is separate from all our other official partnerships and licenses across the football world.
“The future of football is very big and very bright. Our priority is to ensure we have every opportunity to continue delivering the world’s greatest interactive football experiences.”
The NYT report said the reasons negotiations failed between FIFA and EA were on expected lines – FIFA wanted more money (close to a billion dollar for each four-year cycle), while EA
Sports wanted exclusivity to explore other ventures like showing highlights of actual games, video game tournaments and launching digital products like NFTs.
Gaming and eSports are the fastest-growing media verticals on the planet, with new games launching continuously. It is therefore of crucial importance for FIFA and its stakeholders to maximise all future opportunities for football and gaming fans. A not-for-profit organisation, FIFA said it also has a duty to support its 211 member associations to fully capitalise on the opportunities that have been emerging over the recent years.
FIFA also committed to continuing to organise skill-based eSports tournaments under the umbrella of the recently launched FIFAe competition structure and consumer brand.
“The relationship and affinity that the gaming and eSports market has developed over time with the FIFA name clearly underscore that football-based gaming and the FIFA name are intrinsically intertwined,” the statement added.
“FIFA has also determined that the overlaps between virtual sport and its football competitions must be more closely aligned. In this respect, FIFA is excited about using the FIFA World Cup (with four billion viewers) and FIFA Women’s World Cup (with an audience of 1.2 billion) as platforms to launch and integrate exciting new games and eSports offerings.”
