NFL Media to work with EA on Madden eSports

EA has partnered with NFL Media in order to cover the Madden NFL Championship Series according to a report. 

Both theScore eSports and SportsBusiness Journal have confirmed that EA and NFL Media have formed a partnership to cover the $1 million competition. The partnership will see a new 30 minute show called EA SPORTS Madden NFL America air on NFL.com before being shown on the NFL Network every Saturday morning. NFL Media will also provide other coverage. 

The Championship Series runs throughout the year, with four major events. The first was the Madden Classic that just wrapped up, then the Madden Bowl runs from January 25th to February 4th and the Madden Challenge takes place between March 31st and April 2nd. A four week league will then round out the season, in April and May. 

“This is a different space that everybody is interested in,” Michael Mandt, NFL Media’s executive producer for original content, told SportsBusiness Journal. “We’re trying to see if there’s an opportunity for us to capitalize on an industry that’s really growing fast. We haven’t set high ratings expectations. We know it’s really new. It’s a long plan for us.”

This could be the boost that Madden eSports needed. Viewer numbers for the title have always been low and very few people outside of the playing community seem to care about the eSports offerings. However with EA focusing on eSports more and more, and the NFL itself getting involved, things are looking up for Madden.