Madden NFL: Building a Better Football Fan

Andy Chalk

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Nov 12, 2002
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Madden NFL: Building a Better Football Fan


A new study conducted by the University of Oregon's NFL [http://www.warsawcenter.com/].

Building on a study conducted in 2008, this year's update to the great scientific inquiry looked at more than 9000 Madden NFL players and football fans, testing their knowledge of the game across five categories: Game Situations, General Knowledge, History, Rules and Business of Sport. Consumption habits were also examined through questions on viewing habits, live game attendance and purchases of NFL-related products.

The two parts of the survey were then combined to create a "fan avidity score," which was then examined to determine "the correlation of time spent playing Madden NFL and being a passionate football fan." And there is indeed a correlation: The more hours a person spends with Madden NFL, the more likely he or she is to be a devoted fan of the real thing.

The survey [http://www.easports.com/news/item/file/MaddenNFL10_IQStudy] found that Madden NFL players consume 35 percent more football content, through viewing, game attendance and product purchases, than non-players. Further, a full 42 percent of Madden NFL fans say they "never" miss a football game because of other activities, compared to only 12 percent of non-Madden players.

Madden NFL fans also watch more football and football-related television, attend more games and are more knowledgeable about the sport than non-gamers; for instance, 63 percent of Madden NFL fans could correctly define the term "injured reserve, compared to only 48 percent of non-fans.

"We delved into the relationship that the Madden NFL game forges with real football, and the study proved that it runs very deep," said Warsaw Sports Marketing Center Managing Director Paul Swangard. "Madden NFL fans are not only extremely knowledgeable about the game of football, they are equally as passionate. Twenty-one years of the Madden NFL franchise has created a smarter and more devoted football fan."

I'm not convinced that encouraging people to strip half-naked, paint themselves various colors and slap giant wedges of cheese on their heads really qualifies as making them "smarter," but hey, what do I know? I'm no scientist.



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SimuLord

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Aug 20, 2008
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...and their wives are more likely to use the term "widow", especially on Sunday, despite their husbands being very much alive and viable.
 

KSarty

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Aug 5, 2008
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Malygris said:
I'm not convinced that encouraging people to strip half-naked, paint themselves various colors and slap giant wedges of cheese on their heads really qualifies as making them "smarter," but hey, what do I know? I'm no scientist.
I think they are trying to say that it only makes them smarter in regards to the subject of football, and I agree with them there. Madden actually goes into an enormous amount of depth regarding how to manage your team, players, and finances on the franchise side, and the gameplaying aspect is just as, if not even more, robust of an experience. Basically, to play Madden properly and to it's fullest, you have to understand a lot about football.
 

HobbesMkii

Hold Me Closer Tony Danza
Jun 7, 2008
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The Baseball Mogul series did the same thing to me. Only I don't know the teams they were all on, and I didn't buy more of their stuff. It made me watch more baseball though.
 

Sparrow

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Feb 22, 2009
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At risk of sounding a bit stupid, shouldn't you put "American Football"?

NFL sounds like the name of the Irish league.
 

jh322

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May 14, 2008
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Ok, hold on hold on.

Is it not possible...maybe even MORE probable, that really big NFL fans are going to buy and play a lot of madden? Maybe the hypothesis of this study has things the wrong way round...
 

olee12343

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Jun 23, 2009
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So this article is basically saying that football fans play Madden? Boy, I would have not figured that out...
 

Zildjin81

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jh322 said:
Ok, hold on hold on.

Is it not possible...maybe even MORE probable, that really big NFL fans are going to buy and play a lot of madden? Maybe the hypothesis of this study has things the wrong way round...
This was my first thought as well.
 

Andy Chalk

One Flag, One Fleet, One Cat
Nov 12, 2002
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jh322 said:
Is it not possible...maybe even MORE probable, that really big NFL fans are going to buy and play a lot of madden? Maybe the hypothesis of this study has things the wrong way round...
You know, when I first read about this the words "correlation" and "causation" kept rattling around inside my head, but I just couldn't put them together in any meaningful way...

I don't dispute that the point is valid - Madden NFL is a source of knowledge for football fans - but do we really need to study this to realize it, and why is there this subtle implication that Madden alone has the power to elevate our knowledge and appreciation of a game-related subject? I learned a lot about piston-engined fighters and air combat tactics when I played Air Warrior. Stuff rubs off, it's the way of the world.