The NFL doubled down on its plans for esports, announcing plans with EA Sports to launch a new line of programming and events centered around the Madden NFL video game franchise. Moves will include the launch of weekly series Madden NFL America on Fridays at 9p on NFL.com and on NFL Network every Saturday at 8a and sponsored by Under Armour. The 30-minute show, partnered with Defy Media, is hosted by Dave Grunfeld and explores the universe around this game through the eyes of top gamers while focusing on the four Madden NFL Championship Series tournaments. The league is also building out its tournaments with EA Sports, the recent Madden Classic, the Madden Bowl from Jan. 25-Feb. 4, the Madden Challenge from March 31-April2, and the Madden Championship concluding May 21. On a grassroots level, the league is launching the Madden 17 Club Series, in which participating NFL teams will conduct their own Madden competitions to crown the best Madden player among their fans.
Cynopsis eSports spoke with Chris Halpin, SVP of Consumer Products at the NFL, about the launch, why the league is dedicating resources and the natural ties between the league and esports.
Halpin on the decision to go deep with Madden: Like many sports properties, we’ve been looking at the esports space, researching it, and understanding the dynamics there with the goal of finding the right way for our league, teams and our fans to participate in it. We came to the conclusion that, given the strength of our Madden franchise, and the embedded fanbase and popularity there, combined with the strength of our partnership with Electronic Arts, the right answer was to work with EA and build an esports program. This is a cross-functional effort at the League focused on our strategic priorities across Consumer Products, Media, Marketing, Clubs and International. The prioritization is first here in the US and then internationally, beginning with Canada and the UK.
On benefits: The profile of the esports fan is a younger, digitally-oriented group that is fragmenting off of traditional linear TV and is consuming new forms of live and on-demand content through platforms like Twitch. For our teams and sponsors, it is an attractive demo that they are trying to reach. It is also a dynamic space that is continuing to evolve with a huge international footprint and we all believe it will continue to grow and adapt beyond the current platforms. Our goal would be to in the middle of that with our intellectual property by accessing both gaming fans and football fans. Of course, another key driver of our focus on esports is that point of content: using our owned-and-operated media in NFL Network and NFL Digital, etc. to produce both live events and ancillary and shoulder programming around the Madden gamer community.
On the Madden Championship Series: The core series, which is what EA announced this summer and has been fleshing out and marketing is the Madden Championship Series, which represents four series spaced throughout the year and we just had the first this past weekend. They serve as the four majors that crown the Madden competitive series. It’s all going to developed around online entry into those Madden majors, with the top-ranked players invited to the in-person events. It’s really about identifying the best Madden players with a total purse of just over $1 million. It’s about building a year-long Madden lifestyle and tour where players compete, get ranked and can win prize money.
On the club series: We are testing it for this season ahead of what will probably be a broader rollout the following year. We will be announcing in about two weeks the lineup of clubs who will be participating and holding live events, where Madden players can sign up for their favorite club’s tournament. At the end of the day, the fan affinity and the right to be the champion of your team is incredibly exciting and a great way to connect a fan’s passion for Madden with the passion for their favorite team.
