It was bad enough, several years ago, when EA secured an exclusive license with the NFL and Player's Association to stifle competition in the NFL gaming market. But if you were desperate (as I was) to find a silver lining there was always the hope that the deal wouldn't increase Madden's sales one little bit (especially as the quality sagged from lack of competition) and that the cost wouldn't justify extending the deal any further. In short, the hope was it would be a one shot dealSo much for that.
Per a post at Kotaku, EA and the NFL just extended their deal into the 2012/2013 season. In the post EA's Peter Moore claims it was the NFL who first approached them when the deal was first signed. I'm not sure how much I believe that, but even if it's true I doubt very much they needed to twist EA's arm much.
I swear to god, every year I grow a little more disenchanted with the NFL. But then, that's probably the Lions' fault.
