Madden, Dodge Roll Out Corporate Sponsorship

Electronic Arts' Madden NFL 2005, with a little help from corporate sponsor Dodge, is giving its players a suite of free online services when the game hits shelves August 12. With the EA Sports Premium Pass presented by Dodge, players still need a credit card to sign up for online play (for authentication purposes), but the card won't be charged for these services:

• EA Reputation Boost: A publicly visible indicator that rewards and penalizes players for following EA SPORTS Fair Play rules.

• Name in Lights: Subscribers will have their name highlighted from non-members in the game.

• Personalized Career Pages: One central Career page will host online stats and records, along with Fantasy Football and the latest EA SPORTS News.

• Expanded Leaderboards: Members-only leaderboards are enhanced with dozens of statistics and a powerful new search tool.

• Customizable Streaming Sports Ticker on Web: Pulling in multiple real world sports feeds as well as EA SPORTS online system messages.

• EA Calendar: Subscribers can set their “time online” preferences and organize Madden NFL 2005 challenges and tournament games. Other members can challenge them and be assured that they will find a suitable time on their calendar.

• Members Only Medals: members will receive special medals that they can display next to their game trophies in their Trophy Room on their Personal Career web pages.

• Exclusive EA SPORTS Premium Pass Message Boards

• Early Registration for the Madden Challenge: Subscribers get a full 48 hours to register before non-subscribers for Madden Challenge registration, a 32-city competition which determines the best Madden NFL Football player.

• Madden University: More Madden online tips and hints than players knew existed can be found here.

• Members Only Customer Support: Priority web, email, and in-game support from EA Customer Support.

There's been much grumbling within the gamer community over in-game advertising and corporate sponsors. The hardcore and traditionalists worry product tie-ins threaten creativity and game play. The realities of big game development, though, is that production houses want to offset as much of its budget as possible before titles ever make it to the store.

However, partnerships like this have a natural tie-in since corporations have long supported the major sports leagues. Players will likely recognize familiar branding and products. And with television viewing slipping amongst the 18-34 male demographic (replaced by playing video games), it's likely this won't be the last major sponsorship deal.