The Chicago Bears are the dysfunctional gift that keeps on giving. The NFL team has finally solved its quarterback dilemma, but now it can’t settle on a site for a new stadium. Fans are tired of the debate between lakefront and suburban areas — they just want it built. The drama is a reminder that sports video games often miss out on a huge opportunity. The business of sports can bring a new layer to Franchise modes in almost every major sports game.
Many Madden fans will say that they want gameplay issues fixed before seeing an addition like this. That’s fair. But fans also want immersion in their Franchise modes, and this is another way to provide it. There are so many possibilities here; just think about what can be pulled from the real world of sports as an example.
Not Every Owner Is Great
NFL business drama isn’t just about new stadiums. Jacksonville Jaguars fans know this all too well. Imagine being a GM with an overbearing owner who constantly pressures you to make bad decisions — for instance, hiring Urban Meyer. Make enough bad decisions? The fanbase will start to turn on you. Perhaps the NFL will even have you play multiple games overseas every year, which could further alienate your fans. Madden has a lot of possibilities here.
It’s not just football, either. The fan bases of baseball’s Los Angeles Angels and Minnesota Twins are revolting against those teams because they want the owners to sell. Why? The owners of both have been destructive in different ways. The Angels have made poor personnel decisions and squandered the mammoth opportunity of having both Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout on the same team for six years. In that time, the Angels didn’t play a single playoff game. In the Twins’ case, the owners are notorious penny pinchers cosplaying as spenders.
Fans of both teams want new owners. As a GM in Franchise mode in MLB The Show, how do you navigate poor fan engagement and declining attendance while trying to keep spending up? Can you convince an owner to allocate more funds? Providing those options would be engaging for players in sports games.
Stadiums And Social Media
The now-defunct Phoenix Coyotes mishandled their lease agreement so severely that they had to relocate to an arena that seats fewer than 5,000. The impacts weren’t just on the Coyotes, either. Smaller revenue for the team resulted in reduced revenue sharing, which in turn affected the salary cap. As a result, ownership was pressured to sell the team. The NHL itself even stepped in to facilitate the transaction and sudden move to Utah. It’s hard to imagine scenarios like that being in licensed games where the leagues want to be promoted, but they’d add a layer of realism we don’t often see in sports video games.
There are other ways to incorporate the business aspects of sports. In free agency, would you sign a vastly overpriced player? No, but what if they have a massive social media following that drives merchandise sales? That extra revenue may allow you to allocate a larger budget. There is a wealth of possibilities, whether it’s in Madden NFL, MLB The Show, NBA 2K, or NHL.
Do you want more options like this? Or would you like the focus to be on gameplay? Franchise mode players, let us know which aspects of the business side of sports you’d like to see.
