Riccitiello was also quoted in the report that was released earlier this week that the EANFL exclusivity agreement was extended until 2022. He said, "What was reported in the media was more of a message I wanted to share at this time regarding our relationship with the NFL and how they've granted us relief...against our royalties that we are licensed to pay in the event there is a lockout in the coming season. What was reported through the press Mut 24 coins...it is safe to say that is generally accurate."

He added, "We did negotiate our P&L in the case of a lockout to ensure we don't hurt in the way we would. The second thing is that we extended the contract which was excellent. The only issue that was difficult to figure in the sense that it implied that we would pay more for [National Football] League rights than we do currently, but it's not true. We've extended the relationship, however, there's no quid pro-quo in 2022 or the fiscal year 2022 for a greater amount at any point at a later date."

The executive also spoke about his expectations of Battlefield 3, due out on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox 360 later in the year. "I've given no reason to doubt that I'd like to be the market leader in the field of first-person shooters," said Riccitiello. "In numerous ways, I think we invented the first mass-market first-person shooter that had the Medal of Honor. But, as we transitioned to the PS5 timeframe we lost the Medal of Honor. We're after it now."

He went on to say, "There's a great thing with an annual franchise whether we're the owner or rivals. If you've got an annually-run franchise, you're getting basically a meal ticket. It can bring in a huge amount of money. One of the challenges when you have an annual franchise is that you don't spend the time to redesign the base code, that is, if you want to and it is as up-to-date as it is. Therefore, we believe there's a chance for this. We've invested for three years in the development of the new Battlefield 3 game, [andI'm convinced that it'll be the most impressive product available this year. We'll get at them."

EA Sports has become eerily proficient in prediction of Super Bowl winners, having been able to predict the winners from six of the seven big games thanks to its most popular gridiron simulation Madden NFL. With the game with two teams, the Pittsburgh Steelers and Green Bay Packers set to be played on Sunday EA Sports said today that its annual simulation has chosen the Steelers as the winner in the Super BowlXLV buy madden 24 coins.