American football is one of the most well-known games in the world. And while it isn’t massively popular in the broader world, in its home country of the USA, it is by far the most popular sport. The National Football League is America’s biggest and richest sports organization, bringing in hundreds of millions of dollars annually. The American population’s investment in football is akin to Europe’s investment in soccer or Canada’s in football. It is the game that best defines them.
So, understandably the NFL has done a lot of merchandising. From jerseys to sports gear to video games, the NFL has its fingers in quite a lot of pies. In this article, we are taking a look at video games based on the NFL and their influence on the industry. American football is already the most popular betting sport in the USA. However, if you visit Novibet betting websites, you will see that NFL video games are also quite popular in the eSports market. So, let us take a look at some of the best American football video games.
The Madden Series
Anyone with even a sliver of interest in gaming has undoubtedly heard of Madden. Named after John Madden, the franchise is by far the most popular NFL-based video game series in the world. Going strong since the 1980s, the EA-developed gaming franchise has managed to sell over 130 million copies worldwide. Nowadays, Madden is the only American football game series to be officially licensed by the National Football League and has had a major influence on gaming, American football, and the players of both. For the best series in the franchise, check out the following titles:
- Madden NFL 2003
- Madden NFL 2004
- Madden NFL 10
The NCAA Football Series
College sports are a huge part of American culture. The NCAA is the main governing body behind college sports and organizes some of the most noteworthy competitions in the USA’s sports world. So, understandably, they’ve also licensed a video game franchise.
The NCAA Football series are some of the highest-rated and most beloved games in the video game industry. Once again, developed by EA Sports, the franchise first began in 1993, with the latest release coming in 2014. And though there hasn’t been a new game since NCAA Football 14, many consider that final release to be one of the best sports games of all time.
Mutant League Football
For our final release, we are going back to the 90s and taking a look at a rather obscure game. The Mutant Football League was developed by EA Sports using the Madden ’93 engine. Taking place in a post-apocalyptic, eradicated Earth, the game brings a unique twist to the classic sports game formula.
Teams of aliens, robots, mutants, and the undead compete for the Mutant League title. Each team has a unique ability that they can utilize to create interesting and fantastic plays. Anyone who has an old Sega Genesis system, or a good emulator, would do themselves a service by checking out this forgotten gem.
