EA Sports Director of Marketing

Time was, EA Sports' Madden franchise released on the weekend, not a Tuesday. "Madden Football Friday" predated the "Madden Holiday" of the past dozen or so years, and it returned again this week. But is it back for good? No, said Nathan Stewart, the EA Sports Director of Marketing. What took place this year was an unusual confluence of circumstances that Electronic Arts can't really count on in years to come, Stewart said. In March and April, as EA was deciding on its cover athletes - Pittsburgh's Troy Polamalu and Arizona's Larry Fitzgerald, sharing a Madden cover for the first time - the NFL was also hammering out its schedule. Both sides have a close ...