Gaming News - December 2005
New York, NY (December 6, 2005) - ESPN today announced that it has
teamed up with Electronic Arts to take viewers inside the world of Madden NFL 06
for the video game reality series Madden Nation.
From ESPN:
Starting Tuesday, Dec. 6 at 11 and 11:30 p.m. ET on ESPN2, the eight-episode
series (Tuesdays at 11 and 11:30 p.m.) will pit the nation’s 13 best Madden NFL
06 gamers—along with their real-life NFL player sponsors—against each other in
elimination-style tournaments on a 17-day national bus tour. NFL players Shaun
Alexander, Ben Roethlisberger, Dwight Freeney and others will be featured with
their corresponding player representatives during each stop of the tour. The
finale, which will be aired Tuesday, Dec. 27, was shot in New York’s Times
Square on the ABC Super Sign. The winner claimed a $100,000 prize.
“Madden Nation will give ESPN viewers the best of both worlds: exciting,
top-level competition and some of football’s best known players in the biggest
game on the market,” said John Skipper, ESPN executive vice president, content.
With scenarios designed to test the players’ skills, each tournament will
make the gamers compete against each other and “free agents” they meet along the
way. Tour stops include: Los Angeles; San Diego; Phoenix; Albuquerque, N.M.;
Denver; Kansas City, Mo.; Minneapolis; Green Bay, Wis.; Chicago; Indianapolis;
Canton, Ohio; Baltimore; Washington; Philadelphia and New York, and will take
place, in part, in the NFL players’ homes. In all, the tour bus logged 4,646
miles.
“Madden Nation showcases the EA SPORTS lifestyle, giving viewers an inside
look into the daily life of the biggest Madden NFL football gamers and NFL
players,” said Todd Sitrin, vice president of marketing, EA-Tiburon and EA
SPORTS. “ESPN is the perfect outlet to show this unique pairing of the top
Madden NFL football players.”
Each gamer is matched with an NFL player and meets him along the tour.
Gamers/Hometowns NFL Sponsors/Teams
Dan “PackWolf” Bertholomey (Portland, Ore.) Ashley Lelie (Denver Broncos)
Justin “Chow” Chow (Great Falls, Va.) Tony Gonzalez (Kansas City Chiefs)
Raymond “Shopmaster” Goode (Waldorf, Md.) Shaun Alexander (Seattle Seahawks)
David “Dred” Grant (St. Petersburg, Fla.) Michael Vick (Atlanta Falcons)
Daniel “Clark Kent” Grundei (Cincinnati) Ben Roethlisberger (Pittsburgh
Steelers)
Kyle “The Gift” Hustek (Detroit) Roy Williams (Detroit Lions)
Christopher “Action” Jackson (Atlanta) Byron Leftwich (Jacksonville Jaguars)
Sherman “Sherman Sticky” Jameson (Midland, Texas) Chad Johnson (Cincinnati
Bengals)
Rodney “NJMaddenBaller” Lane (Dover, N.J.) Jevon Kearse (Philadelphia Eagles)
Charles “Solution” Smith (San Diego) Donnie Edwards (San Diego Chargers)
Rob “Duka” Taylor (Youngstown, Ohio) Ed Reed (Baltimore Ravens)
Antoin “Pretty Boy” Williams (San Antonio) Larry Fitzgerald (Arizona Cardinals)
Rod “Reality” Wynn (Inglewood, Calif.) Dwight Freeney (Indianapolis Colts)
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