Electronic Arts (EA) CEO Andrew Wilson announced that they would give up the name FIFA last year. During the in-house meeting, the FIFA comment by Wilson emerged.
EA and FIFA agreement expires as of 2022. Stating that FIFA wants a fee of $ 1 billion for the next period, EA announced that an agreement could not be reached.
Electronic Arts CEO: “FIFA is preventing us from rising.”
EA, which has signed a license agreement with FIFA for 30 years, announced that they will not renew the contract for the naming rights with the Qatar World Cup. Stating that he wanted to end the special agreement with EA, FIFA announced that they wanted to work with more companies in the field of the game.
EA CEO Wilson said in the meeting, “Electronic Arts’ popular football games may be better positioned long-term without FIFA partnership. I would argue that the FIFA brand has more meaning as a video game than as a football governing body. We try not to be arrogant and have made an effort to make sure FIFA understand what we need for the future. ” he said.
Saying that the FIFA naming rights consist of four letters on the front of the box, Wilson said, “Considering that most people access our games digitally, I can easily say that FIFA enthusiasts have not even seen the box. Apart from FIFA, we have 300 licenses. Although the FIFA license gives its name to our football game, other licenses are more important to us. Thanks to these licenses, we will be able to continue to use the names of athletes, teams, stadiums and leagues in EA games.” said.
Underlining that they have different plans for the future, Wilson stated that they want to switch to a franchise system. Pointing out that the FIFA license prevents this, Wilson explained that they also have problems with the trademarks included in the game.
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