University of Oregon Survey Finds Madden NFL Players Are More Avid
Football Fans with Intricate Football Knowledge
REDWOOD CITY, Calif., Aug 20, 2009 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Does the Madden NFL franchise create a better football fan? EA
SPORTS, a label of Electronic Arts Inc., (NASDAQ: ERTS), announced today
the results of the Madden Football IQ study, conducted by the University
of Oregon's Warsaw Sports Marketing Center. This year's study, which
examined how fans of Madden NFL also interact with the sport of
football, determined that fans who play the Madden NFL video game
series are not only more knowledgable about the game of football, but
are also more avid, devoted fans.
"For the second year, we delved into the relationship that the Madden
NFL game forges with real football, and the study proved that it
runs very deep. Madden NFL fans are not only extremely
knowledgable about the game of football, they are equally as
passionate," said Paul Swangard, Managing Director of the Warsaw Sports
Marketing Center at the University of Oregon. "Twenty-one years of the Madden
NFL franchise has created a smarter and more devoted football fan."
The study surveyed more than 9,000 EA SPORTS Madden NFL players
and football fans on both knowledge of the sport and fan avidity.
Building on a previous study, respondents' football knowledge was tested
through five categories of football knowledge: Game Situations, General
Knowledge, History, Rules and Business of Sport.
In addition to testing respondents' football knowledge and game-playing
habits, consumption of NFL football was also measured through questions
on viewing, attending games and purchasing habits as it relates to the
sport of football. Based on the results of the consumption and knowledge
portions of the study, the Warsaw Sports Marketing Center developed a
football "fan avidity" score to examine the correlation of time spent
playing Madden NFL and being a passionate football fan.
According to the fan avidity score, the more hours playing the Madden
NFL game correlates to a more devoted and involved NFL fan. The most
passionate of these fans are less likely to miss a football game on
Sunday than most non-Madden players and are likely to attend at least
one NFL game per season.
Madden NFL Creates More Passionate Football Fans
According to the survey, Madden NFL players on average consume 35
percent more football content than those who do not play the game. This
measurement included information on viewing, attending games, and
purchasing habits related to the game of football.
One of the greatest differentiators between Madden NFL gamers and
those that didn't play the game was football viewing patterns. When it
comes to watching football games, there is no NFL fan more reliable than
a Madden NFL player, as 42 percent of Madden NFL players
indicated they never miss a football game due to other activities. Only
12 percent of non-Madden NFL players would make the same claim.
Madden NFL players also watch a lot of football. During
the regular NFL season, 43 percent of Madden NFL players watched
16 or more hours of NFL programming per week - two-thirds of a day per
week or more - compared to only 15 percent of non- Madden NFL
players. And it doesn't slow down much in the off-season, as 41 percent
of Madden NFL players watch six or more hours of football-related
television per week compared to only 14 percent of non-Madden NFL
players.
Madden NFL players also bring their passion to their teams. Madden
NFL players more regularly attend NFL games: 58 percent of Madden
NFL players attend at least one game a year, compared to only 39
percent of non-Madden NFL players.
"Each year, EA SPORTS provides an authentic football experience through
the Madden NFL franchise for fans to not only fuel their passion,
but also to learn the game of football," said Peter Moore, president of
EA SPORTS. "The findings of the Madden Football IQ study demonstrate
that Madden NFL player's knowledge and passion for the game of
football is unparalleled."
Madden NFL Players More Knowledgable About Nuances of
Football
In this year's study, the Madden NFL Football IQ survey found
that Madden NFL players continue to be more knowledgable about
the game of football than non-Madden players. Out of a total of 25
questions, Madden NFL players scored higher in all five survey
categories. Categories where Madden NFL players scored
significantly better were Game Situations and General Knowledge
categories, where Madden NFL players scored 19 and 12 percent
higher, respectively.
Questions where Madden NFL players scored particularly higher
indicated intricate knowledge of not only football mechanics, but also
nuanced knowledge of football terminology. Examples included:
- 67 percent of Madden NFL players correctly identified specific
passing routes versus 48 percent of non-Madden NFL players.
- Madden NFL players also know their defensive schemes, with 81
percent correctly identifying formations compared to 67 percent of
non-Madden respondents.
- Madden NFL players get inside the game of football as well,
demonstrated as they correctly defined injury classification terms
more often than non-Madden NFL players. For example, 63 percent
of Madden NFL players correctly defined "Injured Reserve"
versus 48 percent of non-Madden NFL players.
In the near future, fans will be able to take the Madden Football IQ
survey online when they visit the Madden NFL 10 page. Go to www.maddennfl.easports.com
for more information.
About the Madden NFL Football IQ Survey
The Madden NFL Football IQ survey was conducted by University of
Oregon's Warsaw Sports Marketing Center in conjunction with Electronic
Arts Inc. in July 2009. The study included more than 9,000 surveys that
were conducted online. Survey results are nationally representative, and
the margin of error for is the survey is ± 3 percent.
About the James H. Warsaw Sports Marketing Center
Established in 1993, the James H. Warsaw Sports Marketing Center is one
of the world's premier sports education and research programs. Housed
within the University of Oregon's Charles H. Lundquist College of
Business, it has become a model for sports-business programs across the
country. The program offers degrees at both the undergraduate and
graduate level and is active in industry outreach through its
consulting, research and annual events including the Women in Sports
Business Symposium.
About Madden NFL 10
Madden NFL 10 allows players to experience first-hand what it's
like to Fight for Every Yard. With all-new Pro-Tak animation technology,
players have more control over the outcome of each play. Whether driving
a receiver towards the first down, or battling for a fumble at the
bottom of a pile, the play won't end until the whistle blows. Players
can also the fight online with an all-new Online Franchise mode,
complete with 32 teams, NFL-style drafts and a custom league webpage.
Add to that the most immersive broadcast presentation to date and Madden
NFL 10 captures the authenticity and emotion of the NFL like never
before.
Madden NFL 10 is developed in Orlando, Florida by the
award-winning EA Tiburon studio. EA SPORTS(TM) is the leading interactive
sports software brand in the world, with top-selling titles and
franchises including Madden NFL football, FIFA Soccer, NHL(R) hockey, NBA
LIVE basketball, NCAA(R) Football, and Tiger Woods PGA TOUR(R).
Madden NFL 10 will be available for the Xbox 360(R) video game
system from Microsoft, PlayStation(R)2 and PLAYSTATION(R)3 computer
entertainment systems, Wii(TM), PSP(R) (PlayStation(R)Portable) handheld
entertainment system and is rated E by the ESRB. Madden NFL 10
will also be available for feature phones this month, and on the App
StoreSM in September.
About Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA), headquartered in Redwood City, California, is
a leading global interactive entertainment software company. Founded in
1982, the Company develops, publishes, and distributes interactive
software worldwide for video game systems, personal computers, wireless
devices and the Internet. Electronic Arts markets its products under
four brand names: EA SPORTSTM, EATM, EA Mobile(TM)
and POGOTM. In fiscal 2009, EA posted GAAP net revenue of
$4.2 billion and had 31 titles that sold more than one million copies.
EA's homepage and online game site is www.ea.com.
More information about EA's products and full text of press releases can
be found on the Internet at http://info.ea.com.
EA, EA SPORTS, the EA SPORTS logo, EA Mobile and POGO are trademarks or
registered trademarks of Electronic Arts Inc. in the U.S. and/or other
countries. John Madden, NFL, NBA, FIFA, NHL, NCAA, Tiger Woods and PGA
TOUR are trademarks of their respective owners and used with permission.
Xbox and Xbox 360 are trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies and
are used under license from Microsoft. "PlayStation", "PLAYSTATION" and
"PSP" are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Wii
is a trademark of Nintendo. All other trademarks are the property of
their respective owners.
SOURCE: Electronic Arts Inc.
EA SPORTS
Rob Semsey, 407-386-5337
Sr. PR Manager,
RSemsey@ea.com
Fleishman-Hillard for EA SPORTS
John Reseburg, 415-318-4117
John.Reseburg@fleishman.com
Copyright Business Wire 2009