They will not lower the price of digital games, and deliberately undercut themselves in the process. The disc only adds $3 to the total cost, so you're not exactly saving a king's ransom by going digital. Furthermore, so many of the gamer cognoscenti screamed about how the industry was killing used games, yet they seem to have no problem rendering the deathblow themselves.
Oh I have, and I don't give the cops, nurses, or firemen any grief for the job they do, because it's largely thankless. The difference here is that the "gamer cognoscenti" feels that it is now part of the design proecess, and feels a certain amount of entitlement, and because of that entitlement they can make demands. It's the only industry where the end user seems to think it knows more than the people who actually CREATE the product. Mass Effect 3 anyone?
Name another job where you have to deal with "outraged" geeks who scream "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH YOU NEED TO FIX THIS OR I'M FILING A CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT!! BAIT AND SWITCH!! PONZI SCHEME!! EVERYTHING SHOULD BE $20!! THEY NEED TO LISTEN TO ME BECAUSE I KNOW EVERYTHING AND HAVE NO REAL WORLD EXPERIENCE! I'M SMARTER THAN YOU ARE BECAUSE I PLAY VIDEO GAMES!!"?
And when the SEC or Atlantic 10 or the sell the broadcast rights, then who "benefits"? The kids who actually play football or hoops don't see a dime of that money. And how are the "taxpayers" funding a university like Northwestern, Boston College, or Notre Dame, which are all PRIVATE institutions?
It seems like you're looking at this from a "gamer" prospective, that sports are not a for profit business. The days of standing at the sidelines with a penant and fur coat are long gone.
Update: 100% of "gamers" believe that video games are not a for profit industry, and games should be given away free for the "betterment of the gamer community". When asked if that would bankrupt the industry, 97% of gamers said "they're just being greedy".
The inherent problem is that universities and colleges make a load of money off of these kids in broadcast rights, conscessions, parking, and merchandise. At the professional level, the money from things like television and merchandise is split between the owners and players. So you have universities and colleges reaping the rewards, and the players who actually help put them there get squat, and most of these kids will never make the NFL or NBA. At the very least they should be given a stipend if you're a non-scholarship/walk on athlete.
As for selling the same game year after year, that's a very "gamer" complaint used to justify the irrational hatred of Electronic Arts, and it really doesn't have a lot of validity. Unless there are major rule changes, or realignment, there's not a whole lot you can change. What are some expecting, jet packs?
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