Electronic Arts to pay £500 million for Premier League license

Electronic Arts begins preparations for the first year in which its soccer game will no longer be called FIFA, but EA Sports FC. The company is making moves, initiating talks to reach a £488 million agreement with the English Premier League to continue using this license.

Premier League and EA Sports reach £488 million deal

As reported by Sky News on February 10, the 20 Premier League teams held a briefing on the same day to discuss a six-year, £488 million deal with EA Sports. A senior official from one of the clubs commented that the deal would bring them "more than £80 million a year" and would also allow EA to remain the Premier League's main advertiser in exchange for the exclusive use of the license in the video game arena.

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According to one of Sky News' sources, this new deal would be worth more than double the value of the existing agreement between the two sides and reflects the fact that the Premier League is currently the most profitable football league in the world.

Goodbye FIFA, hello EA Sports FC

2023 is a very important year for EA Sports, as it will be the first year that they will no longer use the FIFA brand. After nearly thirty years of sponsorship and collaboration, Electronic Arts and the world governing body of soccer are parting ways. Starting in 2023, EA's FIFA will be called EA Sports FC. There will be no FIFA 24 as such. Or at least not developed by EA Sports.

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FIFA requested to renegotiate the agreement they had with Electronic Arts, asking for 1 billion dollars to renew the license, which the video game developer refused, so they will have to cease to use the name. Another big loss derived from this rupture is that EA Sports FC will not be able to use the official World Cup license, since FIFA 23 is the last game with this type of content.

Sources | Sky Sports, IGN