In a move that should surprise no-one, Electronic Arts today announced that it has reached an agreement with the NFL and NFLPA to extend its exclusive deal, which was made back in 2004, for another three years. This means EA has the rights to exclusively publish and develop titles under the NFL banner through the 2012 season.

Speaking in an interview with GameDaily, EA Sports President Peter Moore said the deal was in fact at the NFL’s directive. Contrary to popular belief, EA did not demand exclusive rights.

Let us not forget that this deal was at the NFL’s directive. They wanted to have an exclusive arrangement. This was not EA coming in and demanding exclusive rights.

The original deal, which lasted until the 2009 season, was rumored to be in the range of $250 million to $300 million. No word on how much EA dropped for the deal extension.

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