Boom!! EA SPORTS Madden NFL and NCAA Football Games Sack the Competition
Posted by Ben on Wednesday, September 25 2002

REDWOOD CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 25, 2002--Electronic Arts (Nasdaq:ERTS), the world's leading developer and publisher of video games, has extended its lead in the industry's biggest sports category -- football. Independent research on retail sales ranks EA's Madden NFL(TM) 2003 and NCAA(R) Football 2003 first and second respectively, ahead of the NFL game of the closest competitor. Volume on EA's football games is up 142 percent over the prior year with no significant market share lost to competition.

"Gamers and retailers have voted," said EA's Vice President of Marketing Frank Gibeau, "EA SPORTS(TM) Madden NFL 2003 and NCAA 2003 football games are in a league all their own. The lopsided victory in football shows a great trend line for the upcoming launch of basketball, racing and hockey games from EA SPORTS."

Information collected from sources including NPDFunworld TRSTS Video Games Service for July/August includes the data for the launch of all industry football games in 2002. Key points include:

-- Overall, EA SPORTS captured 84.9 percent of the total football

market. The closest competitor got 8.4 percent.

-- Among just the NFL games, EA's Madden had 82.7 percent market

share; the closest competitor had 10.3 percent of the market

for NFL games.

-- Madden NFL 2003 and NCAA Football 2003 lead their respective

categories on every major platform including the
PlayStation(R) 2 computer entertainment system, Nintendo
GameCube(TM), Xbox(TM) video game system from Microsoft and
the PC.

-- Among college football games, EA's NCAA Football 2003 captured
99.1 percent of the console market -- a 5.8 percent share
increase over last year. The closest competitor got 3.2
percent of the NCAA market -- 6.4 percent less than the year
prior.


In 2001, football constituted 23.3 percent of the market for sports games and sports represented 22 percent of all game sales in North America.

Video game sales track much like motion picture box office -- the first month's sales usually determine success and failure. A game that launches poorly almost never improves in the months that follow.

The next blockbuster from EA SPORTS, NBA Live 2003 with revolutionary freestyle control, is scheduled to ship on October 15.

About Electronic Arts

Electronic Arts (EA), headquartered in Redwood City, California, is the world's leading interactive entertainment software company. Founded in 1982, Electronic Arts posted revenues of more than $1.7 billion for fiscal 2002. The company is the leading software developer for video game systems including the PlayStation(R) 2 computer entertainment system, the PlayStation(R), Nintendo GameCube(TM), Xbox(TM) video game system from Microsoft, personal computers and the Internet. The company publishes and distributes software worldwide. Electronic Arts markets its products under four brand names: EA SPORTS(TM), EA SPORTS BIG(TM), EA GAMES(TM) and EA.COM(SM).

Note to Editors: Electronic Arts, EA SPORTS and John Madden Football are trademarks or registered trademarks of Electronic Arts Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries. NFL, NCAA, NBA, NASCAR, NASCAR Thunder and NHL are trademarks of their respective owners and used with permission. PlayStation 2 is a registered trademark of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Nintendo GameCube is a trademark of Nintendo. Xbox and Microsoft are trademarks or registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the U.S. and/or other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.