Electronic Arts has reached an agreement with the NFL and NFLPA to extend its exclusive interactive entertainment license for an additional three years. The original deal, which was made in 2004, covered five years and lasted through 2009 the season. This extension gives EA Sports the NFL exclusive through the 2012 season.

Although never confirmed by any parties involved, online reports rumored that the original deal was in the neighborhood of $250 million to $300 million range. And again, no details on the cost of this excusive deal extension have been released. The Madden franchise, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this August with the release of Madden NFL 09, has sold over 60 million units to date.

EA already has exclusive deals with several other sports in place, including NASCAR, PGA TOUR, FIFA, and the Arena Football League. The company competes against multiple publishers in the NBA video game area, including 2K Sports, Midway Games and Sony, and 2K Sports in the NHL and NCAA basketball video game space. EA will face competition from 2K Sports in the boxing ring this year, as Don King Presents Prizefighter goes up against the new arcade Facebreaker boxing franchise from EA Sports, which also has its Fight Night simulation franchise. The only sport that EA is currently shut out of is baseball, as 2K Sports has the exclusive third-party MLB and MLBPA license, while Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft have the ability to create first-party games.

Peter Moore, president of EA Sports, took some time to talk with GameDaily BIZ about what this NFL/NFLPA extension will mean to gamers.

BIZ: What does this NFL/NFLPA extension mean to EA Sports?

Moore: It gives us a great platform to continue investing not only in the current way that we deliver games, Madden obviously, but in working with the NFL and their subsidiaries like NFL Network and NFL Films to find innovative ways to be able to bring new game experiences to consumers.

BIZ: Will there be additional games like new versions of NFL Head Coach and a return of NFL Street?

Moore: You've seen things that we've done over the years to try to extend the franchise with the Spanish language version of Madden, NFL Tour, which we most recently did, and NFL Head Coach, which we'll have upcoming. I think there are other opportunities. We continue to look at the fantasy world, which is extremely popular, and what can we do to bring to bare on that to add value to consumers, as well as a lot more online elements of what the game is about...maybe doing some things after the season. Right now, we have a very tight season when Madden ships. We do incredibly well in August, when the game launches, and then once the Super Bowl is over we go into a lull. We're looking into opportunities to do a lot more things in and around the NFL Draft and training camp and what have you. We fully intend to grow this business. We fully intend to continue to invest in Madden itself, which is the core engine of this business and now about to enjoy its 20th Anniversary this upcoming season. Extending this deal gives us additional room to extend that investment beyond the 2009 season.

BIZ: What would you say to the naysayers out there who believe one choice for an NFL game is not the best thing for gamers?

Moore: This deal allows us to invest. The key is to make sure we're in a position to invest aggressively in making the most innovative game. Madden this year has been our best game in three years. Our MetaCritic ratings are the best that we've had since the 2006 version. As we move forward, it doesn't stop anyone from doing another football game as 2K proved this past season (with All Pro Football). At the same time, obviously, the ability for us to use the teams, the players, the stadiums and all of the official marks is important.

Let us not forget that this deal was at the NFL's directive. They wanted to have an exclusive arrangement. This was not EA coming in and demanding exclusive rights. The NFL put their license out for tender and we bid, as well as many other companies did at the time...I wasn't here at the time but I remember it very well. I think if the product we put out this year was slipping in quality and innovation, we might have a tougher platform to defend, but that's not the case. I think the message to gamers is, "Look, we continue to enjoy an incredibly rich relationship with the NFL. We've invested hundreds of millions of dollars in R&D over this period of time, in not just Madden but with other things we're trying to do."

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