Nearly 20 Million Votes Cast through ESPN's SportsNation,
Shattering Last Year's Award-Winning Campaign
New Features Unveiled for Madden NFL 13 during Kickoff Event in
Times Square
REDWOOD CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA) and ESPN announced today that Calvin
Johnson, Jr., wide receiver for the Detroit Lions, was selected by
millions of fans across the country to grace the cover of Madden NFL
13, which will hit store shelves August 28. Johnson, a No. 6 seed,
defeated fellow NFL Pro Bowler Cam Newton, a No.1 seed, in a thrilling
matchup culminating in a live unveiling on ESPN's SportsNation
and a cover photo shoot for the winner in New York City's Times Square.
This year's vote campaign surpassed last year's totals by 54% (19.6
million vs. 12.7 million), ending with Johnson triumphing over Newton by
a final margin of 52% to 48%.
Nearly 20 million votes were cast during the seven week campaign (March
7 to April 25) through SportsNation online and via the mobile
web, marking a new engagement record for an ESPN poll. Supported by
integrations across multiple ESPN platforms, including TV, radio,
online, mobile, social media, ESPN Deportes and more, fans rallied and
supported Johnson as he beat teammate Matt Stafford in the newly
introduced play-in round. He carried his strong momentum through the
bracket of 32 all the way to victory beating No. 11 seed Dwayne Bowe,
No. 3 seed Arian Foster, No. 2 seed Rob Gronkowski and No. 1 seed Aaron
Rodgers in the final four before triumphing over Newton in the finale.
"The Madden NFL 13 Cover Vote has been bigger and better than
ever thanks to all of our fans voting in record-setting fashion to honor
Calvin Johnson, Jr. and we are thrilled to have him be the next face of
the Madden NFL franchise," said Anthony Stevenson, Madden NFL
13 director of marketing. "This year's cover voting campaign had
more rounds, more players and more votes than ever before, generating
great conversations and debates amongst the fans and NFL players across
multiple ESPN platforms and throughout social media. The amount of
support that Johnson generated nationally and in his home market of
Detroit was staggering."
"This is the second year SportsNation was the home for the Madden
NFL Cover Vote and it has been even more engaging than expected,"
said Jamie Horowitz, VP of Original Programming and Production, ESPN. "SportsNation
created a cross-platform experience like no other at ESPN, launching a
play-in round on Facebook with more than 4 million votes, driving
traffic to ESPN.com for a month of record-setting voting, and
culminating with a live reveal show from New York City that was an
exciting way for Johnson to learn of the fan's ultimate decision."
"This campaign is the latest example of what ESPN and EA have been doing
for years together to serve sports fans," said Raphael Poplock, Vice
President, Games and Partnerships, ESPN. "From in-studio technology with
Virtual Playbook, to authentic ESPN broadcast treatments within EA
franchise games, and cross-platform social campaigns for the Madden
NFL Cover Vote, our relationship continues to produce successful
integrations and activations that engage fans in new and innovative
ways."
To celebrate and commemorate Johnson's Cover Vote win and to kick off
the Madden NFL 13 season, EA SPORTS conducted a photo shoot in
New York City's Times Square to capture the iconic image that will
appear on the cover of this year's game.
To complement the Madden NFL 13 season kickoff, the first game
details were released via the feature
Playbook today, with additional details to be released leading up to
the game launch on August 28.
-
Presentation (released 4/25) — Madden NFL 13 delivers
world-class presentation with an entirely new look and feel; plus, new
commentators bring the game's broadcast to life.
-
Gameplay — Part I (released 4/25) — With a revamped passing
game and the all-new read and react defensive AI system, Madden NFL
13 achieves greater realism on the virtual gridiron on both sides
of the ball.
-
Audio (to be released 5/14)—Madden NFL 13 delivers a
superb audio experience that faithfully replicates NFL Sundays with a
new commentary team and the implementation of innovative technology
along with unique resources provided by NFL Films.
-
Gameplay — Part II (to be released 6/4) — A monumental change
to Madden NFL gameplay creates the most authentic football
experience to date, blurring the line between virtual and reality.
-
Connected Careers (to be released 6/4) — With Connected
Careers, Madden NFL 13 will revolutionize the way sports video
game career modes are played.
-
Madden Ultimate Team (to be released 7/9) — Madden NFL 13
Ultimate Team is the definitive way to experience virtual card
collecting with new content and updates that mirror exciting NFL
events throughout the entire year.
-
Madden Social (TBD) — A whole new way to experience
Madden against your friends- anytime, anywhere.
Since its debut in 1989, Madden NFL has more than 95 million
units sold-in to date. Fans can visit http://www.ea.com/madden-nfl
to learn more about Madden NFL 13 pre-sale opportunities.
Madden NFL 13 is developed in Orlando, Florida by EA Tiburon and
will be available for the Xbox 360® video game system from Microsoft,
Kinect, PlayStation®3, Wii™, and PS Vita (PlayStation®Vita) handheld
entertainment system on August 28. For more information about Madden
NFL 13 please visit http://www.ea.com/madden-nfl.
To download assets pertaining to the Madden NFL 13 Cover Vote
please visit http://maddennfl13.newslinevine.com
or www.info.ea.com.
NFL Players Incorporated facilitated all player participation, most
notably through the use of a new mobile app developed in partnership
with Playmark,
Inc. that allows players to quickly and easily record videos to
share with their fans online.
EA SPORTS™ is one of the leading sports entertainment brands in the
world, with top-selling videogame franchises, award-winning interactive
technology, global videogame competitions and breakthrough digital
experiences. EA SPORTS delivers experiences that ignite the emotions of
sport through industry-leading sports simulation videogames, including
Madden NFL football, FIFA Soccer, NHL® hockey, NBA basketball, NCAA®
Football, Fight Night boxing, EA SPORTS MMA and Tiger Woods PGA TOUR®
golf, and EA SPORTS Active.
For more information about EA SPORTS, including news, video, blogs,
forums and game apps, please visit www.easports.com
to connect, share and compete.
About Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA) is a global leader in digital interactive
entertainment. The Company's game franchises are offered as both
packaged goods products and online services delivered through
Internet-connected consoles, personal computers, mobile phones and
tablets. EA has more than 100 million registered players and operates in
75 countries.
In fiscal 2011, EA posted GAAP net revenue of $3.6 billion.
Headquartered in Redwood City, California, EA is recognized for
critically acclaimed, high-quality blockbuster franchises such as The
Sims™, Madden NFL, FIFA Soccer, Need for Speed™, Battlefield™, and Mass
Effect™. More information about EA is available at http://info.ea.com.
EA SPORTS, EA SPORTS Active, The Sims and Need for Speed are trademarks
of Electronic Arts Inc. Mass Effect is a trademark of EA International
(Studio and Publishing) Ltd. Battlefield is a trademark of EA Digital
Illusions CE AB. John Madden, NFL, FIFA, NHL, NBA, NCAA, Tiger Woods,
and PGA TOUR are trademarks of their respective owners and used with
permission. Twitter is a registered trademark of Twitter, Inc. All other
trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
Officially Licensed Product of NFL PLAYERS Incorporated.
About SportsNation
SportsNation is a live sports television show born from the Internet,
fueled by fan interaction and focused on fun. The show, which has the
youngest and most male audience on the ESPN network, features
discussions of the day's hottest sports topics but also smaller stories
that generate buzz on the Web but are overlooked by other shows. Feeding
off the theory that if two heads are better than one, 200,000 heads are
better than two, SportsNation engages hundreds of thousands of
sports fans across the country via ESPN.com's SportsNation page (http://espn.go.com/sportsnation/).
About ESPN Games and EA
ESPN's long-standing relationship with EA produces deep brand
integrations into console gaming titles such as EA SPORTS NCAA
Football 12 and Fight Night Champion. Additionally, the
relationship in 2011 produced the biggest ESPN poll vote ever for the Madden
NFL 12 cover vote, logging nearly 13 million votes, the most ESPN
votes ever for a joint collaboration. The Emmy award-winning EA
Virtual Playbook also most recently extended to boxing and golf in
2011.
EA SPORTS
Julie Foster, 407-386-5184
jfoster@ea.com
or
Fleishman-Hillard
Carol
Quito, 415-318-4109
carol.quito@fleishman.com
Source: Electronic Arts Inc.
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