(Disclaimer: the comments here are my own and do not reflect the views of ESPN, ESPN.com or Disney)

One more quick note before I run out to do all the yard work I’m avoiding. Most of you know that EA signed an exclusive deal with the NFL, making Madden the only NFL football video game on the market this year. You’ll also remember how I feel about it.

Well, the reviews of Madden 06 are in and they’re not good at all. This is a game that routinely garners rave ratings for previous editions. I’m an NFL 2K fan, so I don’t know if I’m going to get this game anyway, but regular, hardcore Madden fans in my office have already complained to me about the new quarterback features and other lackluster features. Of course, with no competition, gamers have no where to go and gamers like me might just skip getting an NFL game this year anyway. Of course, the price is back at $39.99 after they lowered prices in the face of competition from the 2K series (which was only $19.99 last year). In fairness, the game has generally been over $49 in previous years, so maybe they didn’t jack em up all the way.

I wish there was a way to explain to the NFL that the short term cash from these exclusive deals hurts them in the long run. Fewer fans play these games and fewer fans have a reason to watch. We all come at sports from different places. Some of us start watching because a buddy roped us into a fantasy league. Others really get into the strategy of the game because we started playing video games. All of these things give us different reasons to watch football. The more places people can do one of these ‘on-ramp’ activities, the more people watch the NFL games, get into their local teams, and become great fans (who spend). These exclusive deals restrict fans’ access to the game which just will hurt the game in the long run.

Just my $.02.