The National Football League and the video game company EA Sports reached a multi-year exclusive agreement for the popular Madden NFL franchise. The deal will also support the recently revived EA Sports College Football franchise.

“EA Sports and the NFL have built one of the most iconic partnerships in all of sports and entertainment, and we see so much opportunity ahead to deliver for football fans everywhere,” says EA Sports President Cam Weber. “With more than 2 billion games of Madden NFL played each year, the global community of football fans connecting through play has never been bigger. Together with the NFL, we will continue to shape the interactive future of football – expanding Madden NFL, growing College Football, and creating new breakthrough experiences for the next generation of fans.”

“Madden NFL has become one of the most widely recognized and culturally relevant gaming franchises in the world,” says Renie Anderson, the executive vice president and chief revenue officer at the NFL. “As we look to this new chapter in our partnership with EA SPORTS, our focus remains on the success of NFL simulation gameplay and providing our fans with the best entertainment and experiences around the sport they love.”

EA Sports and the NFL first agreed to an exclusivity deal in 2004, effectively ending its rivalry with Sega’s “NFL 2K” franchise. Madden NFL and EA Sports College Football are developed at EA Tiburon in Orlando.

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