UP259 Inside Soccer's Billion Dollar Game Market

The market for soccer simulation games is dominated by EA Sports' FIFA franchise, a licensing agreement that is in its 23rd and final year. It's a very lucrative market. Last year EA made around $1.6billion in net revenues, with 150million players. FIFA makes around $150million from the license. So what happens now? How will EA and FIFA move forward in this new era and is EA's market dominance vulnerable to new entrants, in a world where millions of young people have grown up playing free to play mobile games rather than on expensive consoles.  These are some of the questions tackled in this conversation with Eugene Nashilov, CEO and Founder of Strikerz Inc, creator of the UFL soccer simulation game, due to launch this year. This is a deep dive in to how the gaming market works, the reality of the player and team license agreements that underpin the games and how the rise of games like Fortnite and League of Legends has shaped the behaviour of the elusive and much sought after Generation Z audience. If you're interested in the sports business, you should subscribe to the Unofficial Partner newsletter that goes to thousands of people across sport every Thursday. This is where you'll find details of the first Unofficial Partner Live event, taking place on Wednesday 21st September at The Emirates Stadium in London, home of Arsenal Football Club. Tickets are £50 plus VAT and can be bought via this link. Unofficial Partner is the leading podcast for the business of sport. A mix of entertaining and thought provoking conversations with a who's who of the global industry. To join our community of listeners, sign up to the weekly UP Newsletter and follow us on Twitter and TikTok at @UnofficialPartnerWe publish two podcasts each week, on Tuesday and Friday. These are deep conversations with smart people from inside and outside sport. Our entire back catalogue of 500 sports business conversations are available free of charge here. Each pod is available by searching for ‘Unofficial Partner’ on Apple, Spotify and every podcast app. If you’re interested in collaborating with Unofficial Partner to create one-off podcasts or series and live events, you can reach us via the website.