A Complex Tapestry The increasingly complex relationship between ESPN and the big two NFL series was no more evident than in 2003. This was the year that NFL 2K4, as it was originally titled, was rebranded with the full ESPN license as ESPN NFL Football. From the opening ESPN title sequence to the pregame intros and halftime show hosted by Chris Berman, the series for the first time looked almost exactly like an actual ESPN broadcast.
Meanwhile, on the ESPN network itself, EA's Madden NFL 2004 was making its presence felt. The game was featured extensively in ESPN's NFL pregame analysis segments to provide demonstrations of on-field strategy. Viewers were even encouraged to go to the EA Sports Web site to e-mail questions to the ESPN hosts. The complexity didn't end there, either. Let's not forget that John Madden himself, through his gig at Monday Night Football, was an employee of ABC, itself a subsidiary of Disney, which also owned ESPN. This cross-pollination of talent and games caused more than a little confusion about just whose side everyone was on. In 2004, those questions would be clearly and quickly answered.
NFL 2K3 also took the first stab at online leagues for console football, which were exclusive to the PS2 version of the game. Explaining that the leagues weren't the hit the company expected, developer ESPN Videogames shut down the feature a scant six months after the game was released. The goal, according to company representatives at the time, was to start over from scratch with the league features to create something "bigger, badder, and a lot better" once 2004 came around.