FIFA Huffs and Puffs With Gaming Giant EA Sports, but Can It Afford To?
A divorce that seems inevitable does not have to be ugly, does it?
It’s not often that we get to have some fun with the modern entertainment companies themselves instead of their products — but this is exactly what’s happening in the last few days with one of the greatest video game publishers in the world, Electronic Arts, and FIFA, the “non-profit” organization that describes itself as the governing body of football around the world. In a rare case of a financial negotiation that turned into a public spat, EA and FIFA are seemingly threatening each other with a divorce after 28 years of marriage. As is sometimes the case with real marriages though, one of the two has far more to lose than the other.
It all began when FIFA, per a New York Times report, decided to ask for more than double the amount of money is currently extracting from EA in order for the latter to use the FIFA brand on its games cover. FIFA is also said to have asked for “an EA exclusivity on a smaller scale” so as to be able to pursue more revenue opportunities. Electronic Arts did not exactly like either term, so — probably after a few rounds of unfruitful negotiations — let slip to the press that it’s considering all options, including abandoning the FIFA brand altogether and…
