Does the Madden NFL franchise create a better football fan? EA SPORTS, a label of Electronic Arts Inc., (NASDAQ: ERTS), announced today the results of the Madden Football IQ study, conducted by the University of Oregon’s Warsaw Sports Marketing Center. This year’s study, which examined how fans of Madden NFL also interact with the sport of football, determined that fans who play the Madden NFL video game series are not only more knowledgable about the game of football, but are also more avid, devoted fans.
“For the second year, we delved into the relationship that the Madden NFL game forges with real football, and the study proved that it runs very deep. Madden NFL fans are not only extremely knowledgable about the game of football, they are equally as passionate,” said Paul Swangard, Managing Director of the Warsaw Sports Marketing Center at the University of Oregon. “Twenty-one years of theMadden NFL franchise has created a smarter and more devoted football fan.”
The study surveyed more than 9,000 EA SPORTS Madden NFL players and football fans on both knowledge of the sport and fan avidity. Building on a previous study, respondents’ football knowledge was tested through five categories of football knowledge: Game Situations, General Knowledge, History, Rules and Business of Sport.
In addition to testing respondents’ football knowledge and game-playing habits, consumption of NFL football was also measured through questions on viewing, attending games and purchasing habits as it relates to the sport of football. Based on the results of the consumption and knowledge portions of the study, the Warsaw Sports Marketing Center developed a football “fan avidity” score to examine the correlation of time spent playing Madden NFL and being a passionate football fan.
According to the fan avidity score, the more hours playing the Madden NFL game correlates to a more devoted and involved NFL fan. The most passionate of these fans are less likely to miss a football game on Sunday than most non-Madden players and are likely to attend at least one NFL game per season.
Madden NFL Creates More Passionate Football Fans
According to the survey, Madden NFL players on average consume 35 percent more football content than those who do not play the game. This measurement included information on viewing, attending games, and purchasing habits related to the game of football.
One of the greatest differentiators between Madden NFL gamers and those that didn’t play the game was football viewing patterns. When it comes to watching football games, there is no NFL fan more reliable than a Madden NFL player, as 42 percent of Madden NFLplayers indicated they never miss a football game due to other activities. Only 12 percent of non-Madden NFL players would make the same claim.
Madden NFL players also watch a lot of football. During the regular NFL season, 43 percent of Madden NFL players watched 16 or more hours of NFL programming per week – two-thirds of a day per week or more – compared to only 15 percent of non- Madden NFLplayers. And it doesn’t slow down much in the off-season, as 41 percent of Madden NFL players watch six or more hours of football-related television per week compared to only 14 percent of non-Madden NFL players.
Madden NFL players also bring their passion to their teams. Madden NFL players more regularly attend NFL games: 58 percent ofMadden NFL players attend at least one game a year, compared to only 39 percent of non-Madden NFL players.
“Each year, EA SPORTS provides an authentic football experience through the Madden NFL franchise for fans to not only fuel their passion, but also to learn the game of football,” said Peter Moore, president of EA SPORTS. “The findings of the Madden Football IQ study demonstrate that Madden NFL player’s knowledge and passion for the game of football is unparalleled.”
Madden NFL Players More Knowledgable About Nuances of Football
In this year’s study, the Madden NFL Football IQ survey found that Madden NFL players continue to be more knowledgable about the game of football than non-Madden players. Out of a total of 25 questions, Madden NFL players scored higher in all five survey categories. Categories where Madden NFL players scored significantly better were Game Situations and General Knowledge categories, where Madden NFL players scored 19 and 12 percent higher, respectively.
Questions where Madden NFL players scored particularly higher indicated intricate knowledge of not only football mechanics, but also nuanced knowledge of football terminology. Examples included:
- 67 percent of Madden NFL players correctly identified specific passing routes versus 48 percent of non-Madden NFL players.
- Madden NFL players also know their defensive schemes, with 81 percent correctly identifying formations compared to 67 percent of non-Madden respondents.
- Madden NFL players get inside the game of football as well, demonstrated as they correctly defined injury classification terms more often than non-Madden NFL players. For example, 63 percent of Madden NFL players correctly defined “Injured Reserve” versus 48 percent of non-Madden NFL players.
In the near future, fans will be able to take the Madden Football IQ survey online when they visit the Madden NFL 10 page. Go towww.maddennfl.easports.com for more information.
About the Madden NFL Football IQ Survey
The Madden NFL Football IQ survey was conducted by University of Oregon’s Warsaw Sports Marketing Center in conjunction with Electronic Arts Inc. in July 2009. The study included more than 9,000 surveys that were conducted online. Survey results are nationally representative, and the margin of error for is the survey is ± 3 percent.
About the James H. Warsaw Sports Marketing Center
Established in 1993, the James H. Warsaw Sports Marketing Center is one of the world’s premier sports education and research programs. Housed within the University of Oregon’s Charles H. Lundquist College of Business, it has become a model for sports-business programs across the country. The program offers degrees at both the undergraduate and graduate level and is active in industry outreach through its consulting, research and annual events including the Women in Sports Business Symposium.
About Madden NFL 10
Madden NFL 10 allows players to experience first-hand what it’s like to Fight for Every Yard. With all-new Pro-Tak animation technology, players have more control over the outcome of each play. Whether driving a receiver towards the first down, or battling for a fumble at the bottom of a pile, the play won’t end until the whistle blows. Players can also the fight online with an all-new Online Franchise mode, complete with 32 teams, NFL-style drafts and a custom league webpage. Add to that the most immersive broadcast presentation to date and Madden NFL 10 captures the authenticity and emotion of the NFL like never before.
Madden NFL 10 is developed in Orlando, Florida by the award-winning EA Tiburon studio. EA SPORTS™ is the leading interactive sports software brand in the world, with top-selling titles and franchises including Madden NFL football, FIFA Soccer, NHL® hockey, NBA LIVE basketball, NCAA® Football, and Tiger Woods PGA TOUR®.
Madden NFL 10 will be available for the Xbox 360® video game system from Microsoft, PlayStation®2 and PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment systems, Wii™, PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) handheld entertainment system and is rated E by the ESRB. Madden NFL 10 will also be available for feature phones this month, and on the App StoreSM in September.
About Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA), headquartered in Redwood City, California, is a leading global interactive entertainment software company. Founded in 1982, the Company develops, publishes, and distributes interactive software worldwide for video game systems, personal computers, wireless devices and the Internet. Electronic Arts markets its products under four brand names: EA SPORTSTM, EATM, EA Mobile™ and POGOTM. In fiscal 2009, EA posted GAAP net revenue of $4.2 billion and had 31 titles that sold more than one million copies. EA’s homepage and online game site is www.ea.com. More information about EA’s products and full text of press releases can be found on the Internet at http://info.ea.com.
