EA dropping Madden name from NFL 07?

What we heard: The post at Madden Mania claims that a GameStop district manager told employees that Electronic Arts was changing the name of its flagship football franchise to "ESPN Presents: NFL Football 2007."

If this rumor sounds familiar, it's because it made the rounds once before. A little over a year ago, Electronic Arts signed an exclusive 15-year deal to be the sole licensee of the ESPN brand in sports games. From the moment the deal was announced, there were questions about the fate of EA's long-standing licensing relationship with the former Oakland Raiders coach and current color commentator, who was just inducted into the Hall of Fame.

As EA's vice president of marketing, Frank Gibeau, told GameSpot at the time, "If you think about the deal, it's not an inevitability that he goes away... I'm not sure where those stories are coming from." That speculation was further quieted later that year, when EA announced in July that it had picked up the portly pigskin pundit for a few more years.

This rumor just doesn't make much sense as it is. Why would EA throw away a brand that has been synonymous with football games since 1989's John Madden Football for the Commodore 64? Why would EA secure the Madden license for a few more years if it didn't intend to use it? Sure, it keeps the Madden name out of competitors' hands, but what would a competitor do with it, considering EA has an exclusive NFL license? Who would make Madden CFL '07, much less buy it?

There's a chance that ABC sister network ESPN didn't want its property associated with Madden because he's going to be doing commentary for NBC's Sunday Night Football next season. However, that was common knowledge when EA signed its deal with Madden. One would think that issue would have been discussed and hashed out at that point in time.

Finally, GameStop itself, the source of this rumor, has recently started taking preorders on Madden NFL 07. Don't be surprised if the game winds up on store shelves as ESPN Presents Madden NFL 07, but dropping the brand recognition of Madden from the name of the game entirely sounds like a terrible, terrible idea. And we're going to give EA more credit than that.

Bogus or not bogus?: Looking bogus at the moment.