Vancouver Whitecaps and EA Sports Unite
November 30, 2010
EA Sports have become the latest partner of MLS side Vancouver Whitecaps alongisde Bell and BMO. The deal places the Whitecaps alongside European soccer giants Chelsea, Arsenal and Real Madrid.
A three-year-deal was announced on Monday making EA Sports a “Founding Partner” of the Vancouver Whitecaps and is the companies first partnership with an MLS side.
EA Sports vice-president Matt Bibley stated that “It was a very easy decision to make”. Bibley, in an interview at the company’s Burnaby studio, went on to say “We believe in the Whitecaps’ vision to become one of the top soccer clubs in the world and we want to help them achieve it.”
The deal will allow EA to showcase its FIFA Soccer games through the Whitecaps which will encompass signage, broadcast and game applications. The Whitecaps players, staff and fans will all be used to test early versions of EA’s soccer products.
The Whitecaps and a newly renovated BC Place Stadium will feature on FIFA Soccer 12 due to be released next year. Bibley predicted that the fans will be able to play as the Whitecaps in the renovated BC Place Stadium before the $563m job is completed next fall.
CEO of the Vancouver Whitecaps, Paul Barber expressed his delight at the new partnership and its potential to attract younger fans at a global level. “This is a huge step [toward making the Whitecaps a world-class brand],” he said. “EA Sports is a world-class brand in its own right and massively connected to the game of soccer globally.”