EA Promotes Launch Of Madden NFL 09 At 7-Eleven(R) Stores Nationwide

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August 15, 2008 // Franchising.com // – Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS) has kicked-off a month-long promotion of Madden NFL 09, the 20th Anniversary of the venerated EA SPORTS™ franchise at 7-Eleven® stores across the nation.

The promotion, running from Aug. 1 - 31 features a variety of in- and out-of-store elements, including collectible Slurpee® and Big Gulp® cups, Madden Meals , a free, online Madden Fantasy Roster Builder based on Madden NFL 09 player ratings, and Madden NFL 09-branded signage in stores. As part of the promotion, customers could pre-order Madden NFL 09 at participating 7-Eleven locations and pick-up the game at midnight on Aug. 12 when it was released.

"EA SPORTS and the Madden NFL team are excited to team up with 7-Eleven to give our consumers a new and unique experience," said Chris Erb, director of marketing for EA SPORTS. "This promotion allows our passionate fans the opportunity to interact with our game like never before, so to us, it's a big win for all involved."

EA has partnered with several other big names as part of the August promotion at 7-Eleven. Together with Warner Brothers Home Video, EA has made a playable pre-release demo of Madden NFL 09 available on a retail DVD. The demo disc is available for free at participating 7-Eleven stores with the purchase of a Madden Meal -- a turkey and cheddar sub sandwich, 99-cent bag of Frito-Lay chips and any size Big Gulp fountain drink -- while DVD supplies last. Playable on the Xbox 360™ video game and entertainment system, the DVD also includes video highlights of big plays, players and games NFL Films highlights.

EA, along with Donruss trading cards, released a limited-edition set of Madden NFL 09 cards made available to consumers free with the purchase of a fresh-grilled Cheeseburger Bite, Quarter-Pound Big Bite or any 22-ounce or larger Slurpee beverage. The trading cards feature the in-game player ratings of select Madden NFL 09 stars.

Pepsi has also joined the fray with a Madden NFL 09 sweepstakes in support of the new Pepsi Lemon NFL Kick-off colas, also launching in August. Prizes for the sweepstakes (information is found at www.pepsifootballsweeps.com) include a trip to Super Bowl XLIII and tickets to EA's Madden Bowl XV in Tampa, Fla., as well as the chance to tour the EA SPORTS Tiburon game studio where Madden NFL football is made. Gatorade, a division of PepsiCo, created Gridiron Ice, a limited-time-only Slurpee flavor available at 7-Eleven stores nationwide.

Assisting 7-Eleven in developing the partnerships and promotions for the Madden NFL 09 August program is FreshWorks, 7-Eleven, Inc.'s advertising and marketing agency, which is a consortium of Omnicom companies.

"EA truly values the opportunity to help bring all of these tremendous brands together with 7-Eleven and FreshWorks," Erb said. "The great thing about Madden NFL is that our fans are so diverse and have so many interests that with a promotion of this magnitude, there's bound to be a little something for everyone to get excited about."

"We really geared up for football season early this year and expect to score big with Madden NFL 09, especially in light of the number of MVPs, so to speak, joining in this month's promotion," added Jay Wilkins, 7-Eleven brand manager for Slurpee and Big Gulp beverages.

Madden NFL 09, the First Sports Game That Adapts To You, introduces more than 85 new features and enhancements. Madden NFL 09 will continuously assess players' skills, whether they are seasoned veterans or franchise rookies, and adjust the gameplay to keep the experience both fun and challenging, all while training gamers to become better Madden players. Madden NFL 09 also includes a brand-new broadcast presentation package featuring Cris Collinsworth and Tom Hammond, online leagues and the most realistic graphics in franchise history.

Madden NFL 09 is developed in Orlando, Fla., by the award-winning EA Tiburon studio, which also produces NCAA® Football, Tiger Woods PGA TOUR® and NASCAR® racing.

Rated "E" by the ESRB, Madden NFL 09 is available for the Xbox® and Xbox 360® video game systems from Microsoft, PlayStation®2 and PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment systems, Wii™, Nintendo DS™ and PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) handheld entertainment system.

EA SPORTS™ is the leading interactive sports software brand in the world, with top-selling titles and franchises including Madden NFL football, FIFA Soccer, NHL® hockey, NBA LIVE basketball, NCAA® Football, Tiger Woods PGA TOUR® and NASCAR® racing.

About Electronic Arts

Electronic Arts Inc. (EA), headquartered in Redwood City, California, is the world's leading interactive entertainment software company. Founded in 1982, the Company develops, publishes, and distributes interactive software worldwide for video game systems, personal computers, cellular handsets and the Internet. Electronic Arts markets its products under four brand names: EA SPORTSTM, EATM, EA SPORTS FreestyleTM and POGOTM. In fiscal 2008, EA posted GAAP net revenue of $3.67 billion and had 27 titles that sold more than one million copies. EA's homepage and online game site is www.ea.com. More information about EA's products and full text of press releases can be found on the Internet at http://info.ea.com.

EA, EA SPORTS, EA SPORTS Freestyle and POGO are trademarks or registered trademarks of Electronic Arts Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries. Madden, NFL, NHL, NBA, NASCAR, NCAA. Tiger Woods, PGA TOUR and FIFA are trademarks of their respective owners and used with permission. "PlayStation", "PLAYSTATION" and PSP are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Microsoft, Xbox, and Xbox 360 are trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies and used with permission. Nintendo DS and Wii are trademarks of Nintendo. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

About 7 Eleven, Inc.

7 Eleven, Inc. is the premier name and largest chain in the convenience retailing industry. Based in Dallas, Texas, 7-Eleven operates, franchises or licenses approximately 7,600 7-Eleven® stores in North America. Globally, 7-Eleven operates, franchises or licenses more than 34,300 stores in 17 countries. During 2007, 7-Eleven stores worldwide generated total sales of more than $46.6 billion. Named the #1 Franchise Opportunity for 2008 by Entrepreneur magazine, 7-Eleven is franchising virtually all of its stores in the U.S., and is expanding through its Business Conversion Program, acquisitions, building new and leasing existing properties.

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