Premier League are closing in on signing a lucrative deal with Electronic Arts (EA) for the game developers to be kept on as the English top flight lead partner, a deal reportedly worth £500 million.
According to reports, EA and the Premier League are close to completing an agreement worth around £488 million, or more than £80 million yearly for six years.
A massive contract, outstanding in the Premier League’s history, is almost finalized between the league and the studio behind the FIFA video game series.
Twenty Premier League clubs were informed of the proposal, bigger than twice as much as the previous agreement, but it is worth it to assure EA’s continued monopoly on Premier League licensing for video games.
This commercial prowess is what ultimately persuaded the teams that were considering leaving for the European Super League in 2021 to stay put in the English League, making it the most financially stable league in world football.
That clubs from La Liga and Serie A cannot currently compete commercially with those from the Premier League, this highlights why Barcelona, Real Madrid, and Juventus are so eager to go through with the European Super League ambitions.
The announcement of the renewal comes many months after it was revealed that EA and FIFA, the governing body of football around the world, were ending their 30-year partnership.
Last summer, reports began to circulate that EA would be rebranding the FIFA series of games, which features teams and players from the world’s top leagues, including those in England.
According to one report, economic links between the English League and EA go back to 1998.
Since 2016, the New York Stock Exchange listed the video gaming firm with a market capitalization of almost $30 billion. Since then, it has been a principal sponsor of England’s Premier League.
Liverpool and Manchester United’s new partnership comes after both clubs have attracted new investors at multibillion-pound valuations.
In 2022, it was revealed that FIFA 23, the first game to feature both the men’s and women’s World Cup events in a single release, would be the last game to bear the governing body’s abbreviation.
The new series of games will be known as EA Sports FC, although the rights to actual soccer teams, players, and stadiums are apparently part of a different agreement.
The first installment in the new EA Sports FC series will be released in the summer of 2023.
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