Super Bowl 2020: Madden NFL 20's Prediction Simulations Have A Spotty History

There's a sports tradition in the early part of every year: EA Sports uses its latest entry in the Madden NFL series to predict the outcome of a sports ball contest known as the Super Bowl. (Subsequently, real-life people act this out in a live-action version.) That's expected to be the case again for the 2020 Super Bowl, Super Bowl LIV, which takes place on February 2.

EA's official Madden simulation typically comes out in the week or so prior to the big game itself, so you can look for Madden 20's Super Bowl 2020 prediction to arrive in the next week. You could also just run a simulation yourself if you own the game and are especially eager, but it's the EA-sanctioned one that's most fun to look at and pick apart. [Update: Sure enough, EA's official Madden prediction for the Super Bowl has been released just ahead of the big game--but it doesn't line up with what we found in our own Super Bowl prediction, which you can watch below.]

The franchise's simulations have a spotty track record at best, as is to be expected from any prediction--let alone one that's done using a video game. Madden 20's pre-season simulation for this year suggested the Dallas Cowboys would top the Cleveland Browns in Super Bowl LIV. The Cowboys went 8-8 and the Browns went 6-10, with neither making the playoffs and both moving on from their head coaches. Predictions are hard, okay?

Madden 19's prediction of last year's Super Bowl also turned out wrong, saying the Los Angeles Rams would beat the New England Patriots. 2018 also went poorly, getting quite a lot wrong, while 2017 was right. If you go back to 2015, things look much better for Madden, as the game not only suggested a comeback and the correct winner, but it also predicted the final score correctly.

We'll have to wait until February 2 to see if Madden makes itself look downright foolish or not. You can also likely look forward to a sale on Madden 20, as the latest game in the series is traditionally discounted just in time for the big game.